


Compromise

by trancer



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Bisexual Female Character, Bloodplay, F/F, Female Relationships, Femslash, Sexual Content, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 08:07:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trancer/pseuds/trancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/415230/">"Compatibility"</a>. As Emily and JJ navigate the tangled web of their new relationship, a new case, in enemy territory, threatens to tear them apart. Forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

On the roof of the BAU, Emily sat on the ledge, legs dangling over the edge, wind whipping through her hair. It was Emily’s favorite view of the city. She considered this her little slice of solace, where she could temporarily get away from the job, her life, everything.

Emily heard JJ approaching long before the BAU’s newest agent opened the door to the roof. She inhaled deeply, a swirling mix of anticipation and anxiety filling her. It’d been three and a half months since JJ joined the BAU, since she’d become Emily’s Companion. Things were better between them, better but still strained as both women continued to navigate the minefield between them.

“Morgan said I’d find you up here,” JJ said, approaching the ledge as she buried her hands deeper into her coat. “Aren’t you cold?”

Emily shrugged. “There are worse places.”

JJ placed her hands on the ledge, securing herself as she leaned forward to look down. Some of the blood drained from her face, a sudden shiver running down her spine. She turned towards Emily. “How can you just sit there?”

Emily leaned forward slightly, peering between her knees, gazing at the city streets below. It was a five-story drop. “I’ve jumped from higher.”

JJ gaped at her, mouth hanging open. “Seriously?”

“Hurts like a son of a bitch,” Emily chuckled, shaking her head as she thought about the last time she’d jumped from the roof of the BAU. “Especially in heels.”

JJ smiled, the smile quickly fading as she turned away to face the view, pulling a few wind strewn strands of hair off her face. A silence fell between them, thick and heavy, the quiet before the storm.

Emily merely inhaled again, balling the hands in her pockets into loosely held fists. She liked having JJ close. Most of the time. It’d been three days since JJ allowed Emily to feed off her. Except, JJ didn’t just allow Emily to feed, and it was that scent that still clung to her. Emily’s scent. And Will’s. JJ always smelled like Will days after she’d been with Emily. Like JJ needed to erase the guilt, to remember the feeling of being human, being with a human. Which left Emily somewhere in between, not quite sure what to think or feel. Because she knew what she thought, what she felt. The thought that JJ neither thought nor felt the same? Was killing Emily.

“It’s pretty,” JJ said, breaking the silence and Emily from her thoughts.

Emily mumbled her reaction, nodding in agreement.

“I..” JJ paused, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. A sign, Emily learned, that the woman was nervous. “I had a talk with my Mother yesterday. Honestly,” JJ huffed, folding her arms across her chest as she turned towards Emily, leaning a hip against the ledge. “I really wish my parents would go back to Pittsburgh. Anyway,” she looked down, finding something of interest on the toe of her shoe. “She wants to know why I haven’t asked you to reject me.”

“What’d you say?”

“She reacted about as well as the last time I came out to her,” JJ chuckled mirthlessly. “Mom, I like girls and boys. Mom, I’m attracted to a vampire. I told her I haven’t asked you to reject me because, well, because I like having you in my life. Cue the fireworks. It just got worse from there.” JJ went quiet. She swallowed hard, brows crinkling, trying to keep the anger and hurt from coloring her face.

“She thinks I’m compelling you,” Emily said.

“Worse. She pulled the Burnsley card at me. Said being with that.. monster twisted my head. Like I‘m suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. I swear to God if she shows up at my door with a priest again..” she paused, craning her head backwards as she let out a long, exasperated sigh. “I just.. I don’t want to do this again. I don‘t want to have to tell my Dad. I don‘t want to tell Will..” JJ lowered her head, bowing. She brought her hands together, thumb and forefinger surreptitiously circling around her engagement ring. “Why can’t they be as understanding as you?”

“Who the fuck says I’m understanding?” Emily balked. “Do you know how badly I want to kiss you right now?”

“Seriously,” JJ chuckled, shaking her head at the sudden conversational 180. “Not helping.”

“Please,” Emily snorted. “Not helping equals the ginormous girl-boner I’ve been walking around with for the past three and a half months.” Off JJ’s laugh, Emily narrowed her eyes playfully. “I’m about this close to sweeping you in my arms, locking you in my lair and doing unmentionable things to your person.”

“You have a lair, now?”

“Of course I do. Didn’t they tell you? We all have one. Still working on the minions, though. You wouldn‘t believe how hard a lair is to keep clean.”

“Why do you do that?” Head tilted down, JJ peered up at her. “Say things to make me feel better?”

“Because.. This whole situation really, really sucks. If I didn’t try and laugh, I’d..” She leaned forward again, looking over the edge. “I’d have found a higher building by now. Because, despite everything,” Emily leaned back, turning her face towards JJ. “I still really, really want to kiss you.”

JJ lowered her eyes again, cheeks flushing a slight pink under the dim light. Emily didn’t need to be a vampire to know JJ felt the same.

“What if, despite everything,” JJ lifted her head, eyes serious once again. “We.. I can’t make it work?”

Emily shrugged. “That’s why I have a lair.”

JJ chuckled a sigh, rolling her eyes. As much as they both needed to have this conversation, it wasn’t happening tonight. JJ was more than willing to pass it off for another day. “Fine, then.”

“Fine, what?”

“Fine..” JJ smiled again, the grin finally making it to her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest and took a step towards Emily. “You can kiss me.”

Emily raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I need permission, now.”

“Don’t be an ass,” JJ said, already leaning forward, eyes focusing on Emily’s lips.

“It’s not a good idea to talk about asses around a vampire with a ginormous girl-boner,” Emily grinned, following JJ’s lead and meeting her halfway.

“And a lair.”

“Of course,” Emily purred as their lips met. “Can’t forget that.”

**

ONE WEEK LATER

They were members of the BAU, and they dealt with monsters. Sometimes, the monsters were Riftlings - werewolves, vampires, and all the other species that had come over during the Rift. But most of the time, the monsters the BAU dealt with were human.

“Are you single, Agent Prentiss?”

His name was Mark Cassevell. Aged 37. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and all the entitlement and privilege that came with it. Over the span of three years, he’d sexually assaulted then murdered seven women.

Allegedly.

He’d been sitting in the Interrogation Room for 64 hours straight, cool as a cucumber, never once calling for the attorney he most definitely could afford. Instead, he sat, waiting for the clock to wind down and he could walk away. Free as a bird.

Emily lifted her head up from the case file before her. It was her turn to interrogate the suspect. No, not suspect. If there was one thing Emily knew, Mark Cassevell was guilty. She knew it down to her bones. Sure, there was no evidence, no shred of DNA to be found but the moment Emily met him, she smelled the victims on him. She’d smelled their fear. She’d smelled their blood. Faint, but unmistakable.

“Of course you are,” he sniffed derisively not waiting for Emily to answer. “Women like you always are.”

Emily narrowed her eyes. “Women like me?”

“You know,” he narrowed his own eyes, lips curling into smirk. “Bitches. Always thinking you‘re better than what you are. Never knowing your place.”

She pulled a photo from the file, spinning it around and sliding it across the table towards Cassevell. “Is that what happened to Sandra Reynolds? She didn’t know her place?”

“Don’t know.” He shrugged, eyes never once looking at the photo. “Never seen her before in my life.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Emily sneered. She’d been trained to curb her anger, to not let the unsubs get to her. Some days were better than others. “Or else, you wouldn’t be here.”

“You know cops. Don’t know their assholes from their elbows. Speaking of cops,” he paused, staring at his reflection in the two-way mirror behind Emily. “Where’s the other one? You know, that pretty blonde?”

Jaw clenching, Emily inhaled slowly, trying desperately to ignore his remark. “Where’s Sandra Reynolds, Mr. Cassevell?”

“Saw she has a ring around her finger. Glad to see some of you know how to be tamed.” He snorted to himself, eyes losing focus as they darkened from the thoughts circling around his brain. “What I wouldn’t give to be the one putting that bitch in her place.”

“Mr. Cassevell!” This time, Emily did growl, a low, rumbling sound as her pupils widened.

“Bet she likes it dirty, too,” Cassevell continued, oblivious to the rising anger in the agent across from him. “Bet she likes to scream. Think I could make her scream,” he paused, turning his focus once again back towards Emily. “Agent Prentiss?”

The blood drained from Mark Cassevell’s face as Emily’s eyes misted to complete black, as her lips pulled back in snarl, exposing fully extended fangs.

“You like screaming, Mr. Cassevell?” Emily slowly rose from her seat. The sound of wood splintering filled the room as Emily’s nails dug hard and deep into the surface of the table. “Would you like it if I made you scream?”

Emily launched herself across the table. Instead of colliding into Cassevell, tasting his blood in her mouth as she ripped the skin from his throat, Emily felt herself yanked backwards. She slammed hard against the two-way mirror, head cracking, the glass splintering like spider webs.

With enough force to break a human’s trachea, Hotch slammed his forearm across Emily’s throat. He’d watched on the other side of the two-way mirror. Watched as Cassevell taunted his subordinate, how Emily fell for it, how she lost control. He’d barged into the room, expecting to stop an agent from beating the ever loving snot out of a suspect, no matter how much the suspect deserved it. He hadn’t expected a half-blood vampire on the verge of a full blown blood-lust.

“PRENTISS!” he growled forcefully, the irises of his brown eyes rimming with yellow, upper and lower canines extending. When she snarled back at him, Hotch pressed his arm harder, the glass behind Emily’s body cracking louder, threatening to shatter. “AGENT PRENTISS!!”

The black in Emily’s eyes receded to black pits surrounded by a growing sea of white. Hotch pulled back just enough to grab Emily by the lapels of her jacket, yanking her towards the door and shoving her into the hallway. “Take a walk!” he yelled, slamming the door.

Hands held in tightly clenched fists, Emily breathed hard and fast through her nose, fighting every instinct within her that screamed for her to go back into that room and finish what she started. And she almost took that step, felt the muscles in her thigh twitching, lifting her leg to move forward.

“Emily!”

That voice, JJ’s voice, was like a hot knife slicing through butter. It cut through Emily’s blood-lust, allowing her to regain some semblance of control. She turned her head towards JJ’s voice. The others were in the hallway, Reid, Morgan, Rossi, even Garcia, but all Emily saw was JJ. Not JJ, just pieces of her - lips and skin and that point on her neck that, even from ten feet away, Emily could see pulsing beneath the thin veneer of protection called skin. Emily curled her hands tighter at the sudden clenching deep within her groin, the hunger, the urge, so close to the surface, so much harder to put back down.

“Prentiss!” It was Morgan this time, stepping into Emily’s line of vision, stepping between Emily and JJ.

Emily forced herself to blink, forced a little bit more of that darkness back down. She blinked again, mouth opening to say something before she just turned on her heel and barged through the exit behind her.

And ran.

She ran down the five flights of stairs, practically taking the door off the hinges when she made it to the street. Emily hadn’t wanted to come. She hated LA, always had, always would. Now, she was running through its streets, in the middle of the night. She ran until the street lights were nothing but a blur, until her lungs burned and the sweat soaked her suit. If she couldn’t control the hunger, she could always try and exhaust it.

She could try.

Emily didn’t stop running until the sun cracked the horizon, when she traded hard pavement for soft sand and dying waves lapping at her feet. Exhausted, she dropped to her knees in the water, the waves coming up to her stomach. After everything, the hunger was still there, churning like a steaming pot on a too warm fire.

So, Emily did the thing she always did when the ache from the hunger became too much, when there was too much hunger and just a little bit of control. She reared her head back..

And screamed.

**

On the jet, it was deathly quiet, an uneasy tension thick in the controlled air. After Emily’s display, once Mark Cassevell recovered from having curled himself in a fetal position, soiling his five-thousand dollar suit, he confessed. Apparently, he had a not-so irrational fear of Riftlings. Upon realizing he’d been locked in an interrogation room with a vampire, let alone taunting one into blood-lust, then left alone with a werewolf, he confessed to everything, from the murders he committed, the location of the remaining women (who were, thankfully, still alive), down to stealing from the collection plate as an eight-year old.

It wasn’t how any of them wanted to bring the unsub down, but they all knew sometimes it was easier to take the win however it came. Today, it had come at the expense of Emily.

Emily wasn’t on the plane. She’d decided to take another flight. Hotch agreed. Now, the rest of them were left wondering just what was going on with their team member, and how to deal with it.

“Can I just go ahead and ask what we’re all thinking?” Morgan’s voice cut through the silence with all the subtlety of a chainsaw. He set his gaze directly on JJ. “What the Hell’s going on with you two?”

“Morgan!” Garcia gasped, eyes wide in that ‘will you please shut up‘ manner of hers.

“What?” He turned his eyes towards Garcia. “Tell me you haven’t noticed? She’s moody. Distant. Now she almost takes a guy’s head off? Literally.”

“You mean..” JJ said, almost forgetting she was the partial subject of this conversation until both Garcia and Morgan’s heads turned towards her. “She’s not like this all the time?”

“Trust us, sunshine,” Garcia said with a comforting squeeze of JJ’s hand. “This isn’t Emily.”

Morgan lifted his eyebrows in agreement. “I haven’t seen her this moody in a long time.”

“Yeah,” Reid interjected. “Not since Doy.. HEY!” he squeaked as Garcia not so playfully kicked him in the shin.

“We all agreed to not mention ‘she who shall not be named’. Like, ever again,” Garcia warned.

JJ pursed her lips. Emily had mentioned Iona Doyle but hadn’t really gone into specifics and, since then, JJ hadn’t asked. Hadn’t thought it was worth asking about until now.

“I thought..” Morgan paused, making sure he had JJ’s attention. “You two had come to an agreement?”

“So did I,” JJ said with a soft disbelieving shake of her head. “She fed last week.” She suddenly found something of interest on the table between their seats, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and hoping no one noticed the sudden blush coloring her cheeks. Because, Emily had done more than feed off of JJ, and JJ had more than definitely enjoyed it. “Emily was the one who agreed to our compromise. If there’s something going on with her.. I honestly have no idea if it has anything to do with me.”

**

It was close to 4am by the time Emily arrived at the BAU. Her separate flight included two layovers, one in Seattle, the other in Minneapolis, turning what should have been a straight five hour flight, had she ridden on the jet, into a hellish 13 hour journey. A journey that had the already edgy agent hanging over the precipice by her fingernails.

Despite all that, Emily went straight from the airport to the BAU. She’d hoped to talk to Strauss, to apologize for her actions. Instead, she arrived at the BAU, went straight to Strauss’ office and saw Hotch sitting across from the woman. Whatever they were talking about, Emily knew it was about her. And it wasn’t good.

She sat at her desk, head tilted back, eyes closed, listening to the silence of the bullpen. Before the door even opened, she knew Hotch was on the other side, making his way towards his office. She didn’t know how long he’d been in Strauss’ office when she arrived, but it was close to sunrise when he finally left. Which was, also, never good.

“Prentiss,” he called out to her in that controlled tone of his. “My office.”

Emily groaned inwardly, her body like chewing gum on hot cement as she managed to forcibly peel herself out of her seat and grumpily getting to her feet. She entered Hotch’s office, eyes downcast, proverbial tail tucked between her legs.

“Listen, Hotch..”

“Sit down, Prentiss,” he said immediately. He pointed towards the couch in his office rather the normal chair across from his desk.

Defeated, Emily went and sat down on the couch, practically holding her breath as Hotch sat on the corner of his desk.

“I just spent..” he finally said, the little creases between his brows deepening as he spoke, “The past couple hours convincing Strauss not to reassign you to another unit.”

“Sir..” She knew she should thank him, instead, she felt the sag in her shoulders deepening. The razor thin line she walked across had just gotten thinner, sooner or later, Emily was going to get cut.

Hotch folded his arms over his chest, taking the few moments of silence to look at his subordinate. “What did I tell you when you were first assigned here?”

“You said every department in the government was watching this agency, me in particular.” Which was true. While there were vampires working in all branches of the government, none of them were field agents. They couldn’t due to not being able to walk in sunlight. Emily was the exception to the rule, the pressures on her, the department, evident.

Hotch broke the eye contact, his face softening. “What did I tell you after that?” He lifted his head off Emily’s silence. “I told you you’re not alone. This team has always been unique. I like to think that‘s what makes us the best. So when I say we, more than anyone else, can understand what you‘re going through, or are in a position to help, I mean it.”

“I..” Emily exhaled, slumping back on the couch. “I know, Sir.”

It’d been Emily who’d doggedly pursued the opportunity to work for the BAU, to work specifically under Aaron Hotchner. She’d expected to find a group of individuals she could learn from, hone her skills as an agent, nothing more, nothing less. She didn’t expect to find a group of individuals she now called friends, to find some semblance of that thing called family.

Hotch lifted himself from his desk, circling around it. He opened a drawer, pulling out a bottle and two glasses. Emily had no idea the man kept alcohol in his office. She watched as Hotch filled both glasses, setting Emily’s on the table before he grabbed the chair in front of his desk, scooted it towards the table and sat down.

“For special occasions,” was all he said before taking a sip.

Emily took her own sip, immediately coughing as the liquor burned its way down her throat. The alcohol humans consumed barely affected her. It took a lot to even give her a good buzz. The alcohol Hotch had given her, was not meant for humans. That it could be called ‘alcohol’ was up for debate.

“Holy shit!” she coughed. “Is this..”

“Like I said,” his normally tight lips cracked a smile. “Special occasions.”

They sat in silence, taking gentle sips of the 190 proof grain, created specifically by and for werewolves. Eventually, Hotch set his glass down on the table, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “What’s going on with you, Prentiss?”

“To put it bluntly?” Emily looked blankly at the wall, chuckling to herself, knowing exactly why Hotch pulled out his bottle of ‘special occasions only’ hooch. The liquor was potent enough to get a duck to loosen its ass, let alone a half-vampire with a metric fuck-ton’s worth of issues. “To put it bluntly, I’m going into heat! At least,” Emily sighed, leaning forward, mimicking Hotch’s pose. “That’s what it feels like.”

Lips pursing, jaw clenching, little creases forming in his brow in that Hotch always did when in deep thought, Hotch processed the information before finally speaking, “So, this is about JJ.”

“Yes, no, I don’t know.” Setting her hand down, she ran a hand through her hair, raking her fingers across her scalp. “I’ve never had a female Companion before. It‘s not like the rule book was written specifically for me. So, I made up my own rules and, until now, they‘ve always worked. Well, mostly. It‘s not like my luck with Companions has been great up until now.”

He pursed his lips, pausing to put his words in the most neutral tone possible. “Morgan tells me you think the Council has been intentionally giving you incompatible Companions.”

“Goddammit, Morgan,” Emily softly grit through her teeth.

“He’s worried about you. We all are. If you feel Agent Jareau’s a threat..”

“No!” Emily’s eyes widened. She quickly closed them, pressing a hand to her forehead. “JJ’s not a threat.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’ve read her jacket?” She waved with her freehand. It wasn’t like her to open up so easily to her superior. But, Emily had to open up to someone, before she exploded. “You know about her past, right? For fuck’s sake, Hotch. They sent me a Companion who hates vampires. Who was kidnapped, her sister murdered by one. Tell me that’s not a set-up?”

“Yet?”

“Yet..” Emily bowed her head. Just thinking about all this made her head spin, and that was before Hotch gave her his special hooch. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, curling her hands into tight fists because whenever she closed her eyes all she saw was golden blonde hair, bright blue eyes and blood that tasted like heaven. “Yet..” She snapped her eyes open, lifted her head. “They got it right, Hotch. They got it fucking.. perfect. But, I was the one who came up with the stupid rules. Who said it was okay for her to be with.. him.” For the first time since entering Hotch’s office, a low growl rumbled up Emily’s throat as her pupil’s dilated. “Every day, I smell *him*, all over her, inside her, his scent getting stronger as mine fades..” She inhaled, quickly and deeply, snapping her eyes shut as a rage-filled shudder reverberated through her entire body, curling her hands into tightly held fists to quell the anger.

“I have to reject her,” she finally whispered, shoulders slumping as the rage dissipated within her like a popped balloon, leaving nothing but an empty ache in its wake. “I have to reject what’s mine. It’s the only way.”

She slowly rose from the couch, having said everything she needed to say. Her confession over, it didn’t leave Emily feeling redeemed, just defeated.

“You want my advice,” Hotch called out to her, waiting until she stopped, turned her head back towards him, her face in profile. “We both know this isn’t as one-sided as you’re making out to be. Fight for her, Emily.”

“And if I lose?”

He leaned forward, taking Emily‘s half-filled glass off the table and downing the remainder of its contents. “Isn’t that better than ceding the war before the first battle’s even been fought?”

“Thanks, Hotch.” She forced a smile onto her lips, shaking her softly as she walked out the door. “Fucking profilers.”

**

It would have been easier to just run. That’s all Emily could think as she drove home through morning rush hour. It would have been faster to run home. But, she’d been burning the candle at both ends lately, and driving gave her time to think about Hotch’s words. It wasn’t the idea of fighting for JJ that gave Emily comfort, and as discomforting as it was to know that Hotch saw right through all her carefully constructed walls, he was always there for her. In his own weird, werewolf kind of way.

The elevator dinged quietly and Emily breathed a heavy sigh of relief, finally making it home. All she thought about were the three days off in a row Hotch had ordered the entire team to take, three days she planned to do nothing but sleep. Then, Emily turned the corner to her apartment..

And froze in her tracks.

JJ sat on the floor next to the door to Emily’s apartment, dressed in jeans, a lavender blouse Emily would swear was hers, and a jacket that was definitely Emily‘s. JJ sat with her legs stretched out before her, one ankle over the other, a book in her hands as she read. Next to her left hip sat Emily‘s go-bag, which explained where JJ had gotten Emily‘s clothes but not why she was wearing them. Hearing Emily approach, JJ lifted her head, lips pulling into a soft smile.

“Hey,” JJ said, moving up onto her feet, dusting her backside off with a hand.

“What..” Emily shook her head, not quite believing her eyes, too stunned to do anything else but stare. “What are you doing here?”

“I..” She tilted her head slightly, peering up at Emily through slightly squinted eyes. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Things got kinda crazy.”

“Yeah,” Emily chuckled to herself, embarrassed at her own behavior. “Sorry about that. I’m not normally like that.”

“I know.”

“Would you like to come in?”

“If that’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Emily found the synaptic connection to make her legs move, fishing her keys from her pocket, nervously sliding it into the lock. “I’d offer to make breakfast but I’m pretty certain I don’t have anything that’s actually food in my refrigerator.”

“That’s okay. My Mom brought over dinner last night,” JJ paused, sticking out her tongue as she placed a hand on her stomach. “I’ll have to not eat for a week to keep it from showing up on my ass.”

Emily refrained from making a comment regarding said ass and how it looked perfectly fine to Emily. Instead, she stepped into her apartment, thankful she’d attempted to clean, not expecting guests in, well, ever. She set her coat on a stool before entering the kitchen.

“You want something to drink? I have..” Opening the refrigerator, she winced at the empty shelves and half-filled take-out containers, a lone bottle of synthetic. “Um.. Water.”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks.” JJ stood at the entrance of the kitchen, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb as she tucked her hands into her pockets, gazing about Emily’s apartment. “Emily?” JJ waited until Emily turned her eyes towards her, the heat building in her cheeks as she tried not to blush. “I got a strange call from Hotch this morning.”

Eyes practically rolling into the back of her head, Emily groaned.

“Yeah,” JJ fake-smiled. “He said for me to re-read pages 47 through 52, then he gave me a list of magic-infused detergents and where I could buy them.”

“God, Jayj, I’m sorry,” Emily said, shaking her head. It explained the clothes. The way JJ smelled, like she’d done nothing for the past several hours but shower. Even the scent of Will was nothing more than intimation.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know,” Emily blushed, eyes darting towards the floor, doing anything but look at JJ. “I didn’t want to seem like I was..”

“Imposing?” JJ finished. She stepped into the kitchen, walking towards Emily until they stood a foot apart. “I agreed to this. Remember? If I’m doing something that’s driving you crazy, and I mean crazy in a rip a guy’s head off kind of way, you have to tell me. Okay?” She reached out, gently tugging on the bottom of Emily’s jacket. “Now, is there anything else I’m doing that’s making you insane?”

Emily dared herself to reach up, brush the backs of her knuckles across JJ’s cheek. Watched as JJ’s irises dilated just a fraction at Emily’s touch, felt the heat rise within her a half degree. Eyes lazily sliding closed, Emily inhaled deeply. For the first time in weeks, all she smelled was just JJ. “Anything?”

“Well..”

“Stay with me,” Emily whispered. She leaned in closer, gently placing the side of her nose to JJ‘s temple, inhaling a little longer. “Just for a little while.”

**

Having JJ with her, in her own space, calmed Emily more than Hotch’s liquor or the tea she fixed for the both of them ever would. They sat in a comfortable silence, Emily on the couch, JJ on the loveseat, each reading a book. Eventually, Emily fell asleep, the past couple days finally catching up with her. When JJ crawled onto the couch with her, stretching her body flush to Emily’s, sandwiching herself between Emily and the couch, head on Emily’s shoulder, it felt like two puzzle pieces slotting together.

Hours later, Emily felt it, probably before JJ did - the slowly rising temperature of JJ’s skin, along with her rising heartbeat. The way her hand drifted along Emily’s torso, finding that space between the bottom of Emily’s shirt and the top of her jeans, fingertips gently circling the tiny space of skin revealed. Those first little wisps of arousal.

“Jayj,” Emily quietly mumbled. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?” JJ smiled, drifting her fingers over Emily’s stomach, tracing down the line of Emily’s zipper, fingers warmly slipping down the swell of Emily’s crotch. “Or this?”

Emily inhaled deeply at the sudden and hard thudding of her heart, the trembling deep within the pit of her stomach.

“Or did you mean this?” JJ teased. She lifted her head, just enough to run her tongue flatly along the pulse point of Emily’s neck, before suckling, nibbling with her teeth.

“Fuck,” Emily grunted, eyes flying open as her mouth went slack, leg twitching hard like a dog getting its belly scratched. “I thought..” she paused, licking her lips. “You read the book?”

JJ removed her lips from Emily’s neck, moving her face until they were eye to eye. “I did,” she said with hooded and smoky eyes, rolling her lower lip into her mouth. “I also read I could make you come from just doing that. I wanted to see if it was true.”

“JJ,” Emily purred. “You know the story about Pandora?”

JJ giggled. “Are you saying you want me to open your box?” Then, she drove her face back down, lips connecting to Emily’s neck once more, fingers working hurriedly on the button of Emily’s fly.

Sex with JJ was good, hell, sex with JJ was fantastic. But it wasn’t what Emily expected when she found JJ on her front doorstep. All Emily had really wanted was to spend some time in JJ’s company, without all the strings of work or JJ’s family. She definitely hadn’t been expecting this. Wanted? Yes. Expected? No. And JJ didn’t just push Emily towards the edge, she shoved her, hard and fast. Before JJ’s fingers found Emily’s sex, already, Emily was keening. That first paroxysm hitting her runaway train hard.

Then, as JJ’s fingers fumbled with Emily’s zipper for better access, JJ’s phone rang. That irritating buzzing sound cut like a chainsaw through the thickening haze between them. JJ ignored it the first time, enjoying the feel of Emily beneath her, writhing and wriggling as JJ sucked her neck, making sure to leave the world‘s largest hickey before Emily‘s vampire healing erased it. The second time, JJ felt compelled to at least pull the device from her back pocket and see who’d called.

“Fuck,” she grunted, pulling her lips from Emily’s neck. And it took everything Emily had to not fist her hands in JJ’s hair and pull the woman back onto her.

“I’m sorry, Emily. I have to get this,” JJ said sheepishly, removing her hand from Emily’s jeans, wiping her slickened fingers on her own jeans as she pulled herself into a seated position. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

Those three words were like an Olympic sized swimming pool of ice water dumped onto Emily’s raging libido. Emily lifted herself, maneuvering until she could sit upright.

“No, Mom. I’m fine. I’m..” She glanced sideways. “With Emily. No. She’s not feeding off me. We’re..” Emily had to smile at the sudden blush painting JJ’s cheeks. JJ turned her face fully towards Emily, returning her smile. Then, she reached, fingers wrapping over Emily’s. “She’s my friend. Okay, Mom. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Closing the device before sliding it back into her pocket, JJ released Emily’s hand, then ran both hands up her face and into her hair. “Fucking fuck on a fuck-cycle.” She pulled her hands back down, sliding them off her chin. “Are you sure you can’t compel people? Because, right now, I’d really like you to make my parents go home.”

“That bad, huh?” Emily said with a bemused grin.

“I love them. I really do. But, ever since I was Selected, they’ve been.. hovering. Between them and Will, I just..” she sighed raggedly, slumping forward, elbows on her knees.

Emily placed her hand on JJ’s back, drawing comforting circles. “They’re trying to protect you. I can respect that.”

“I’m not a little girl, anymore. I can protect myself. And I don’t need protecting from you.” JJ lifted her head, turned her gaze towards Emily. “But, I guess, you’d understand that more than anyone.”

“JJ..”

“I feel like I’m being torn in two. When I’m with them, I really want to be that person they see me as. I know that JJ. I’m comfortable in her skin. And then, I’m with you.” She raised her hand, palm to Emily’s cheek, thumb tracing over Emily’s lips. “It’s strange and different and so new it terrifies me. Because I like the way I feel when I’m with you. I like who I am when I’m with you.”

Emily wanted to say something, but there were no words compared to the ones she’d just heard. JJ had encapsulated everything Emily felt. There were still doubts, anxieties, fears, but they were smaller now than they had been before. Emily shifted her head, bringing her lips to the center of JJ’s palm, kissing gently. When JJ leaned in, Emily bridged the distance, their lips meeting in the middle. The kiss was gentle, soft, almost chaste, an expression of affection, understanding.

Just when JJ’s heart began to skip a little faster, skin warming, she pulled away, forehead pressing gently to Emily’s. “How do I tell them,” she whispered, almost panting. “How you do this to me?”

“You tell them..” Emily kissed the corner of JJ’s mouth then brought her lips up, kissing JJ’s forehead. “In your own way. On your own time.”

“What about you?”

Emily chuckled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

JJ leaned in for another kiss, the fingers on Emily’s face trembling softly. She’d run out of words, heart swelling, chest squeezing at the sudden emotions filling her, knowing Emily meant what she said and feeling undeserving of such compassion directed solely at her. So, she kissed Emily, kissed with everything she had.

“You..” Emily panted, after she’d forced their lips apart. “Should go. Before we both do something..”

“We’ll enjoy immensely,” JJ purred.

“JJ..” Emily playfully warned.

“I know, I know,” she whimpered, pushing herself away from Emily, up and onto her feet. “I’ve got a dinner date with the king and queen of cock-blocking.”

Emily laughed, rising up from the couch to walk JJ to the door. “You know, some of us are going out for drinks tonight. You’re always welcome to come.”

“While the idea of getting completely hammered sounds appealing, especially after my Mom or Dad passive-aggressively ask if Will and I have set a date, I don’t think tonight’s such a good idea. Rain check?”

“Of course,” Emily watched as JJ nodded her goodbye before turning around and opening the door. And Emily couldn’t stand the thought of watching her leave. “JJ?”

The woman practically spun on her feet. “Yeah?”

Emily grabbed her keys off the table in the hall. She pulled one off the ring, holding it up for JJ. “Anytime you need to get away. You’re always welcome here.”

“Emily..”

“I’m not asking you to, like, pull up with a U-Haul or anything. I just..” She leaned, pressing her lips to JJ’s forehead, inhaling deeply. “Today was nice,” she whispered. “I’d like to do it again, sometime.”

“So would I,” JJ whispered back, her eyes going dark and heated as her gaze shifted to Emily’s lips. “Maybe next time, I can finish what I started.”

**


	2. Chapter 2

“Em.. Eroly.. Emory.. Emily,” Morgan slurred drunkenly, over enunciating every syllable of Emily‘s name.. “Emily Prentiss, you are my best friend.”

Emily smiled despite, rolling her eyes. “You’re my best friend, too.”

“You’re my best friend,” he wagged a finger, his eyes following the tip as his finger seemed to not point where he intended it to. “You’re my best friend, and I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she sighed.

Derek Morgan’s biggest secret – he was a girl-drink drunk. Emily knew she probably should have stopped him and Garcia after they polished off the first pitcher. But they were having fun, even Emily. Emily needed to unwind and the bar really did make the best banana daiquiris on the east coast.

She’d already poured Garcia out of the cab the three of them shared, helping the muse into her apartment and putting her to bed. Now, it was Morgan’s turn. Emily carried him up the stairs, cradling the 6 foot plus, two hundred pound man in her arms as easily as if she were carrying a toddler, leaving him to deal with Garcia’s more curious neighbors as they nosily peeked through their curtains. She only wished Garcia were sober enough to take a picture.

Emily placed Morgan onto Garcia’s couch, taking off his shoes before grabbing a blanket and placing it over him. “Look at you,” he mumbled, smiling cheekily. “Tucking me in.”

She patted him on the shoulder. Then she went into the kitchen, grabbing two glasses and filling each with water. She placed one on the coffee table next to Morgan, then went and placed the other on the nightstand next to Garcia’s bed.

“My hero,” Garcia slurred, tucking her arms underneath her pillow.

Emily walked to the front door, taking a glance around the tiny space of Garcia’s apartment. It wasn’t the first time she’d left a drunken Morgan on the couch of a drunken Garcia. It probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Get some rest,” she said softly.

“What’d she say?” Garcia shouted from the bedroom.

Morgan lifted his head, head bobbing as he gazed about, gaining his bearings. “She said d’you want sex?”

“I’m sober enough for sex!” Garcia called back.

“Emily,” Morgan plopped his head back down, mumbling into his pillow. “Garcia wants sex.”

Emily merely chuckled, shaking her head as she closed the door. “Goodnight, you two.”

**

Emily chose to walk rather than call another cab. The night called to her, called to the human side of her. Of all the cities she’d lived in, DC was the first and only to actually feel like home.

She’d known a car was following her three blocks from Garcia’s apartment. It was another six blocks before the car sped up enough to leisurely drive along side Emily, revealing a long, black limo.

The window rolled down. “Hello, Emily Prentiss,” a female voice called out.

Emily paused her stride just enough to glance inside the opened window. A woman sat in the back, alone. A face Emily definitely recognized. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” Emily called to the woman.

“We did get off onto the wrong foot,” the woman answered back.

“By wrong foot,” Emily slowed her pace even more, eyes adjusting to peer into the darkness of the car. “You mean you overstepping your bounds and threatening what’s mine?”

“Ooh, Nicholas said you were feisty,” she laughed. “Driver, stop the car.”

Emily stopped in her tracks, knowing this conversation wouldn’t be ending on her terms at the moment. She watched the limo slow to a stop, the driver hurriedly exiting his door and circling around to open passenger’s door. The Duke’s niece, Nicholas’ twin sister, exited the car like a starlet making her entrance on the red carpet. A white dress fit snugly over pale skin, her platinum hair spilling onto her shoulders in waves. The only color not white or blonde were the lips painted a blood red and her glacial blue eyes.

“Now, let‘s get on with the proper introductions,” she smiled, lips parted just enough to show the tips of her fangs as she extended her hand. “Natasha.”

Emily narrowed her eyes, moving them towards the hand extended towards her then slowly drawing them back up. “The reason we weren’t properly introduced is because you tried to take what was mine.”

Natasha pouted coquettishly, tutting. “Let’s not quibble over ancient history, Emily.”

“What do you want?”

“I’d be happy to tell you but..” She dramatically glanced about them. “The trees have ears and do you really want someone else to hear what I have to say?”

Jaw clenching, Emily inhaled a large breath through her nose. Goddamned vampire politics. It was like the mob - the more you pulled away, the harder they sucked you back in. And, for once, Emily was glad to be the daughter of Elizabeth Prentiss. If there was one thing her mother had taught her, it was how to negotiate this particularly slippery terrain. “Fine,” she finally exhaled.

Natasha’s eyes widened as she clapped her hands like a little girl. She turned on her heel, her driver immediately holding the door open for her.

And, now, Emily.

Where Nicolas was all privileged arrogance, his twin was all arrogance and sex. Natasha reeked of it, to a cloying degree. As they rode in silence, Emily held back the urge to roll down her window, the pheromones Natasha released so strong in the tiny cabin of the limo. It was all intentional, of course, and both sides knew it. This was all part of Natasha’s game, whatever that was. And Emily hoped she’d find out soon.

Before she gave in to temptation.

“A little birdie told me,” Natasha spoke after they’d ridden for miles with nothing but silence between them. “Your Companion still remains unclaimed.”

“Little birds should learn to keep their mouths shut, before someone clips their wings.”

“So possessive. She must be special,” Natasha drawled, re-crossing her legs to expose another inch of a pale and milky white thigh. “Special enough for you to ask favor from my uncle *and* the House of Asclepius to protect her.” Natasha leaned, as if she were doing no more than sharing a schoolgirl secret between them. “Especially when you have no idea what they’ll ask for in return.”

Though the Duke had been the first to offer, Emily knew better than to ask the Lord of a House for favor. It was dumb, damn near stupid and Emily hoped not fatal. She’d tracked Gavin Burnsley down on her own. But, he’d been holed up in the House of Loqur, located outside of Miami, for damn near a decade. With all of Emily’s own contacts, all of her skills, removing Gavin from a House she had no sway in would be impossible. It’d been impossible for the Duke do on his own, as well. And the Duke asked for favor from the House of Asclepius.

For Emily.

The blue eyes boring into Emily while Emily was lost in thought twinkled, blood red lips curling into a seductive smile. Natasha leaned in closer, bringing her lips to the shell of Emily’s ear, while her fingers played along the top of Emily’s thigh. “While this car is in motion,” she whisper purred, “ask me anything and I will tell you what I know.”

A dangerous game, Emily knew. But, she was quickly discovering she was a pawn in someone else’s game. Not just Natasha’s. Emily hated the idea of being used. “The Duke,” she finally spoke. “What does he want with me?”

Natasha seemed almost disappointed Emily asked about her uncle first. She leaned back into her own space on the seat, sighing dramatically. “My dear uncle is dying. All that he’s built, all that he’s accomplished, and no heir of his own. So he‘s offered it to Nicholas.”

“And you want it for yourself.”

Natasha reared back her head, cackling. “Oh, honey.” She placed her hand back on Emily’s thigh. “I have my sights set on much bigger Houses than Bacchinus.”

“Fine. Nicholas gets the keys to the minor kingdom. What does this have to do with me?”

“You really don’t see it, do you? There are those who fear what they don’t understand. And then there are those who covet what others fear. One in sixty-seven million. Half-vampire, half-human.” She leaned back over again, draping her arm over Emily’s shoulders, free hand riding high up Emily’s thigh. “You have made many with much more power than you or I, or even the Duke, very, very afraid.”

Emily definitely understood that. They’d tried to kill her multiple times as a child. Though they’d stopped, Emily still felt those forces swirling around her, constantly wondering when they’d strike again. “If the Duke’s dying, what does he want with me?”

“Marriage.”

Had she been drinking, Emily would have done a spit take. Instead, she just gasped, wide-eyed stunned. “To.. the Duke?”

Natasha laughed again. “Have you not heard a thing I’ve said? Not my uncle, to Nicholas.”

Emily shook her head. This was all starting to be too much. “But that gains him nothing.”

“A month ago, I would have agreed.” Natasha took the hand off Emily’s thigh, bringing it to the tip of Emily’s chin. The seductive expression gone, she searched Emily’s face in earnest. “You have power, Emily. I don’t know why, but my uncle covets it. If my uncle covets it..”

“Then others do as well.”

The seductive mask returned. “Now she gets it.”

“What about you? What do you want?”

“You have turned your back on our kind, for a very long time. Soon, you may find yourself in need of a friend. Okay,” Natasha rolled her eyes at Emily’s disbelieving glare. “Ally. You already have one House in your corner, I can give you another.”

“How?”

“Let me ask you for favor.”

“What could *I* possibly have that you’d want?”

The pupils of Natasha’s eyes widened until the blue of her irises were nothing bit tiny slivers around pits of black. Eyes focused entirely on Emily’s pulse point, Natasha watched her fingers as she grazed the backs of her knuckles along the skin of Emily‘s neck. “Let me taste what no other of our kind has experienced.”

Blood. Natasha wanted Emily’s blood. While Emily had her fair share of lovers, some of them vampire, she’d never allowed them to bite her. Too much self-loathing, too much fear of the darkness within her. But, once again, Emily found the world beneath her feet shifting faster than she could regain her balance.

There were forces swirling around her, circling for the right opportunity. Had there not been the case in Vegas, Emily never would have found herself in the House of Bacchinus, asking for favor. The aegis her mother had used to protect Emily was strong, perhaps stronger than Emily ever realized. But, in this world of vampires, a single shield was never enough.

Emily would have to make her own.

“You do realize,” Emily said, licking her lips as her own eyes darkened, as she inhaled the growing scent of Natasha’s arousal, as she felt and smelled the beginnings of her own. “What this means?”

Natasha nuzzled her nose against Emily‘s cheek, drifting her hand down and working on the top button of Emily‘s blouse. “I definitely know what this means.”

“You will owe me favor.”

“I know what I ask,” Natasha sighed in irritation, as if she were calming a petulant child.

“You will owe me favor, of my own choosing.” Emily growled, letting the darkness within completely her take over. Her eyes misted to complete black as her hand whipped up, grabbing a fistful of Natasha’s hair and snapped the woman’s head back. She shoved Natasha back onto the seat, quickly straddling the woman’s legs. “When I call, you come.”

Every vampire has their weakness. This was Natasha’s. For all her power and strength, it was nothing more than posturing. What Natasha wanted, what she truly craved was domination. Black eyes fluttering, mouth going slack at the hand yanking on her head, Natasha trembled, practically whimpering in delight at the threat of being forced into submission. “Give me what I want,” she purred, licking her lips. “And I will definitely come for you.”

“Say it!” Emily grit, giving another hard yank.

“I..” she paused, swallowing. “ _I, Natasha of the House of Vertumnus, owe Emily Prentiss favor, to be repaid as Emily Prentiss chooses to see fit._ “

Emily watched closely as Natasha said the words, searching hard for any wavering, any sign of deception. When she saw none, she released Natasha’s head with a slight shove, leaning back a couple inches. “ _I accept your request for favor._ “

She began to work on the buttons of her blouse to give Natasha access to her neck. Only to feel Natasha’s fingers on her wrist, stilling her fingers.

“Oh no, Emily Prentiss. It‘s not that vein I want,” Natasha grinned. Then, she drifted her hand down, between the valley of Emily’s breasts, down her stomach, fingers tracing the zipper of her fly, before sliding deep between Emily’s legs, before pressing against the large vein at the apex of Emily’s thigh. “It’s this one.” She pressed the tip of her tongue to the point of Emily’s chin, drawing upwards, before darting her tongue into Emily’s already open mouth. “It tastes so much sweeter here, with my nose buried in your cunt and you screaming my name.”

Fucking vampire politics. Natasha set her trap and Emily walked right into it. She should have known better, that a woman, a *vampire*, like Natasha would want more than just Emily’s blood. But, the deal was done and, all things considered, Emily would walk away the better. Not that she had any idea what she would ask of Natasha, but she was certain it would be more than a night of raucous sex.

If she walked away.

Natasha palmed Emily’s crotch, lips already on the pulse point of Emily’s neck, suckling teasingly. This time, it was Emily’s eyes that fluttered, mouth going slack as the last of her darkness surged forward. If Natasha wanted Emily, Emily would give herself to her. All of her.

“No!” Emily growled, loud and angrily, hand snaking back into Natasha’s hair and snapping the woman’s head back. She pressed her other hand to Natasha’s throat, fingers squeezing just enough to make Natasha squirm heatedly. “You want my blood?” Emily leaned in close, running her tongue along Natasha’s cheek, fangs scraping the flesh, as if she were marking her territory. “Not before I taste yours first.”

**

Monday’s weren’t supposed to start like this. Emily drug herself into the BAU, skin pale as a ghost, the darkest sunglasses she owned over her eyes. She managed to hide the limp in her step through sheer force of will.

She and Natasha had made out in the back of the limo like two horny, vampire teenagers on Prom night. Until the limo stopped before a hotel outside of DC, where Natasha took Emily to the penthouse suite and everything was an orgiastic blur afterwards. Emily awoke, half on, half off the bed, face still buried between Natasha’s thighs in a room that had been decimated. Every single piece of furniture, the walls, the carpet, the floor, was ripped, torn, shredded, splattered with streaks of blood.

Emily didn’t feel guilty. She was too sex sore, too tired to feel guilty. All she wanted was to crawl home and pass out in her own bed. Before Natasha awoke, expecting round two.

Pulling out the bottle of synthetic blood from her purse, Emily opened her locker, placing her purse inside as she drained the synth in one long guzzle.

“What the hell did you do to Garcia and Morgan?”

Startled, Emily hadn’t even heard anyone enter the women’s locker room. She turned her head to see JJ standing inside the door, arms folded across her chest, bemused grin on her face. The look immediately faded the moment Emily turned her face towards hers.

“What the hell happened to you?” JJ said, quickly crossing the room.

It wasn’t the first conversation Emily wanted to have on a Monday morning, let alone with JJ. “You remember the Duke’s niece?” Emily placed her empty bottle into her locker, closing it before tiredly leaning a shoulder against the metal. “I ran into her the other night. She asked me for favor.”

“What could you possibly have that she’d want?”

Emily glanced her eyes away, feeling the little blood she had left rising into her cheeks. “Blood. Apparently, I‘m like a delicacy or something.”

The expression on JJ‘s face changed, quickly going from concerned to professionally distant, the hands beneath her folded arms clenching into fists. “That’s all she wanted from you? Blood?”

Emily felt as if she’d walked out of one trap and right into another. No, not another trap, the doghouse. She could feel JJ’s anger, rising quickly beneath the cool detached manner she displayed. “JJ..” she sighed.

“No.” JJ raised a hand defensively. “This is our arrangement, right? I live my life. You live yours.”

Emily closed her eyes to keep JJ from seeing her pupils widening. It’d been a mistake to come to work. Emily had pure vamp blood coursing through her veins. She’d been too exhausted, too sore within the silence of her own apartment to realize how closely that blood was to the surface. Like a match thrown onto dry kindling, JJ’s anger was enough to set off the spark. “Yes. Our arrangement. The one that only works best when you’re the one making the rules.” Emily canted her head, nails digging into her palms to try to stop the words she could feel bubbling up her throat. “When you set the price and I’m the one who pays.”

“That’s not..”

“Fair?” Emily’s eyes snapped open, JJ instantly taking a step back at the black pits gazing cold and hard at her. “How’s it fair when you fuck me then go back to your pretty little house of lies and do the same to him?”

The look on JJ’s face, an expression of absolute horror, struck Emily as hard and fast as a slap to the face. The rage within Emily dissipated like a popped balloon, deflating until there was nothing left but the human within. The human that felt guilt and remorse.

“JJ..”

“Stop.” JJ shook her head, stepping backwards. “We have a meeting in five minutes.”

Shoulders sagging, Emily watched, unable to do or say anything, as JJ exited the locker room.

**

JJ walked around the conference room table, placing copies of the case files before each member of the team. Neither Emily nor JJ made eye contact with each other, which only increased the tension in the room.

“Within the past five months, twelve campers have gone missing within Black Hills National Forest,” JJ explained, switching the monitor in the room to pictures of the missing.

Hotch looked up from his case file, staring at the screen. “Why have they waited so long to contact us?”

“The park stretches across several county lines,” JJ explained. “Several of the missing were locals who were known to spend an extended amount of time in the woods. No one noticed they were gone and not camping, and didn’t think to file a missing persons report until after non-locals started to disappearing.” JJ switched the screen to two pictures of a man and a woman. “Joe and Mary Swinton were the first reported. Aged 55 and 51, respectively.”

Reid quickly flipped through his report. “The victimlogy here is all over the map. Different ages, races. The missing persons are mostly human but there are two Riftlings on the list, both witches.”

“What do the locals think?” Rossi asked.

“Unfortunately, the press has already gotten wind of this,” JJ answered. She eyed the lone empty chair at the table. The one right next to Emily, and JJ’s eyes immediately darted back to Rossi. “They’re reporting this as a rogue werewolf on the loose in the forest. It didn‘t help when pictures of the last victims campsite were leaked, which ups the ante from missing persons to probable homicides.”

JJ hit the button on the remote. The picture onscreen changed to a campground, a ripped and torn tent, broken camping equipment.

“It looks like an animal attack,” Morgan said.

“JJ,” Hotch spoke, “you said these are rumors of a werewolf, what’s there to say otherwise?”

“I spoke to the Sheriff of Sturgis, and he’s adamant this isn’t a werewolf.” JJ answered.

“What makes him so certain?”

“Because, he is one,” JJ answered. “A werewolf, that is. He says it‘s definitely not a werewolf. And it‘s not an animal attack either.”

Hotch leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger on the table. “We’ll take the case.” He slid his chair back, rising from his seat. “Wheels up in an hour. Prentiss. You’re staying here.”

“What?” Emily practically shrieked. “Sir?”

“This isn’t personal..”

Emily slapped her hands on the table, wood creaking from the impact. “The Hell it isn’t!”

“Prentiss!” Hotch barked. He waited a half beat for Emily to calm down but not enough for her to get another word in. “We’re going to Sturgis, Prentiss. Sturgis, South Dakota.”

“Sir, I know..”

“Do you know what time of year it is?” Hotch leaned forward, pressing his hands down on the table. “In eight days, the Black Hills will be closed for a run. The population of Sturgis has probably tripled by now in anticipation. This isn’t about you or your qualifications. This is about sending a vampire to a town overflowing with werewolves.”

“I know, Sir.” Emily groaned, sagging in her seat. Four times a year, the government opened park land to the werewolves for state-sanctioned ‘Runs’, where werewolves were free to take their full form. Werewolves and vampires were the proverbial oil and water. Sending Emily into the middle of it wouldn’t just be stupid, it’d be fatal. For Emily. “You’re right.”

She sat, doing nothing, as the others rose from their seats, streaming out the conference room. Morgan was the last to leave, pausing at the door, turning back towards Emily.

“Don’t worry, Prentiss, we’ll take care of her.”

Emily chuckled softly. “Would you believe me if I said it’s not her I’m worried about?”

**

JJ paced back and forth in her office, cell phone glued to her ear. “I’ll be fine, Will,” she sighed like she’d said the same thing a million times before. “Just tell my parents I won’t be home for a couple days, okay?” JJ paused at the knock on her office door, Emily not bothering for an answer before she entered. “Listen, Will, I’ve gotta go.” She broke the eye contact with Emily, eyes finding something of interest on her desk as the tips of her ears burned red. “Yeah.. I love you, too. Bye.”

Before she’d even tucked the cell back into her pocket, JJ was marching across the floor towards Emily. “Listen, Emily, I don’t have time for this..”

“JJ! Shut up!” Emily snapped. Regretting her tone, Emily deflated. She didn’t want another fight anymore than JJ did, but the clock was ticking and Emily didn’t have time to mince words. She took off the bag slung over her shoulder and handed it to JJ. “Take this with you.”

“What?”

Emily pulled back the zipper. She reached inside, pulling out the Slayer’s blade secured within a scabbard. “We both know what this is. It‘s made of pure silver, from the other side. Which means it also has magic. It‘ll kill a Riftling faster than anything you’re carrying,” she said, pulling on the hilt just enough to show JJ the blade. “Take it with you. Keep it on you at all times. If you have to use it, don‘t hesitate.”

“Emily,” JJ softened. She’d seen so many sides to Emily, in so little time. This was her first time seeing Emily afraid. She nodded, accepting the offer.

“When you get back,” Emily took a step back, removing herself from JJ’s personal space. “We’ll talk.”

Her expression unreadable, JJ smiled weakly. There was something final in that expression, that made Emily’s gut twist, her chest to squeeze her heart, because it looked and felt too much like goodbye. Emily knew, in her heart of hearts, that should the time come, she could say goodbye, cut that bond between them. Too much seemed to be slipping through her fingers, things she had no idea she held. Emily wasn’t ready to let one more slip away. Not today.

“JJ?” Emily called out to the woman. “I..” she stammered as JJ turned her eyes back to Emily once more. Jaw clenching, Emily grit her teeth as something that lived in the same place where her resolve did surged forward. “Aw, fuck it.”

She rushed forward, breaking the distance between them in the span of a heartbeat. Hands clasping JJ by the sides of her face, Emily crashed their lips together. The kiss was a conglomeration of opposites - hard and soft, passionate and chaste, hello and goodbye. Everything Emily had, everything she was, she put into that kiss. If they were to part, Emily wanted to make sure JJ never forgot.

JJ stiffened at first, then just as quickly melted, leaning into Emily, bringing her hands to rest on the swell of Emily’s hips.

“Emily..” JJ panted softly as their lips parted.

“Just..” Emily sighed, pressing her forehead to JJ’s. “Just come back to me, okay?”

**


	3. Chapter 3

“Garcia, what do you have for us?”

The lab tech’s face filled the widescreen monitor adorned to a wall on the jet. In the background with only her torso visible, an agitated Emily paced back and forth.

“Not much, Sir,” Garcia answered. “There’s nothing that ties these people together. Aside from the first few locals, the rest are from all over the country. The only tiny glimmer of a possible lead is four of the missing, and I’m counting groups in that number, all stopped at the same store before entering the park. Which, all things considered, isn’t that much since it’s not like there’s a lot around.”

“Anything else?” Hotch asked. “What about Riftlings?”

Emily stopped pacing in the background. She approached Garcia, placing one hand on the back of the woman’s chair as she leaned into frame. Her eyes made a not-so-obvious dart towards JJ before refocusing on Hotch. “Not much here, either. I’m still scouring through the database and, well, it’s a needle in a haystack, Sir.”

**

Emily flopped down hard into the empty chair next to Garcia, extending her legs outwards as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “This is fucking bullshit. I’m a profiler..” She took the case file in her hand and practically tossed it onto Garcia’s desk. “Not a goddamn research assistant.” Realizing her faux pas, Emily cracked an eye. “Sorry, Pen.”

“No worries, my Mistress of Misery.” She pat Emily affectionately on the knee. “I would have stopped loving you long ago if not for my immunity to your rampant foot in mouth disease.” Garcia turned in her chair, facing Emily. “You and JJ having problems?”

“Shit,” Emily groaned. “Am I that obvious?”

“Emily,” Garcia huffed, lowering her head and peering at Emily over the rims of her glasses. “You almost took a perps head off, literally, for merely hinting..”

“He threatened her,” Emily growled minutely under her breath, the memory of Mark Cassevels like a bad taste that refused to leave.

“Yeah, and he wouldn’t have gotten an inch towards her. You know that..”

“I know,” Emily sighed. It’d been awhile since she’d come so close to losing control on the job, let alone over a Companion. Emily lifted herself up, leaning forward to place her elbows on her knees, head sagging. “I thought I was doing the right thing by agreeing to this.. arrangement of ours.”

“You still thinking about rejecting her?”

“Fuck, no!” Emily chuckled before she turned solemn again. “If JJ wants out, she’s going to have to say it. Because, I don’t think I have it in me to do it for her. It‘s just, when we‘re alone,” she paused, jaw flexing as she lowered her head again, ran a hand over her head. “When it’s just the two of us, everything’s.. perfect. Then we part and the rest of the world comes crashing in. Both our worlds. She‘s safe in hers. Mine? Not so much.”

Emily drifted into silence, just staring at her hands as Garcia stared at her.

“Emily,” Garcia reached out again, hand on Emily’s knee. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Emily shook her head softly, leaning back in her chair. “Nothing I can’t take care of.”

“Don’t you dare!” Garcia snapped. They’d been friends for too long. Emily wasn’t the most talkative person when it came to her personal life. Of all of them, Garcia saw through the cracks. “Don’t you dare, Emily Prentiss!” Garcia leaned, taking her hand off Emily’s thigh and clasping it hard around her forearm. “You promised! After everything we’ve been through. After.. Doyle,” she practically spat the word. “You promised, if you were in trouble, you wouldn’t shut us out. You promised you’d trust us!”

Emily didn’t know what to say. For Emily, trust was as hard as shutting people out was easy. She’d spent a lifetime mastering the art of shutting people out. She’d been more than raised, she’d been trained to do just that. Trust meant leaving oneself vulnerable, open to attack. No one told her what to do when those she kept out wormed their way in.

She placed her hand on the one clasped tightly around her forearm, moving until both of her hands were wrapped around Garcia‘s. She brought their hands up to her lips, kissing the backs of Garcia’s knuckles gently, the woman softening at her touch. “Fucking muses,” Emily chuckled lightly. “I’m not.. I don’t know if I’m in trouble.”

Garcia tightened her grip, telling Emily, no matter what, she’d never let go. “And if you are?”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

She was a muse. While she’d mastered inspiration, particularly science. What Garcia specialized in was intuition “Promise me, Emily.”

“Penelope,” Emily paused, swallowing hard as she wondered what she’d done to deserve such friends in her life. “I promise.”

**

JJ took a taste test of her coffee. She’d finally purchased a decent creamer and made sure the jet was more than completely stocked days before they had another case. She walked back, taking the empty seat next to Reid, across from Morgan and Rossi, all three men busy reading something or the other.

“Hey.” She nudged Reid gently with her shoulder, nodding with her head. “You’ve had your head buried in that book since we lifted off. What is it?”

Reid lifted his eyebrows, as if surprised someone would ask what he was reading. “Werewolf history,” he answered, holding up an old, leather bound book. “I borrowed it from a colleague at the university. She..”

“She?” Morgan’s head snapped up. “Since when do you have conversations with persons of the female persuasion?”

“I do have female friends..” Reid suddenly stammered, eyes flicking downwards at Morgan’s playful grin. “That aren’t related to work.”

“Is she pretty?” Morgan asked, the smile on his face spreading wider. “Oh! She’s pretty. Look at him, his ears are practically burning!”

They were. Not burning, per se, but the tips of Reid’s ears had turned a dark shade a pink, matching his cheeks. “She’s..” Reid mumbled, fidgeting, “just a friend.”

“Anyway,” JJ rolled her eyes, giving Morgan the tiniest warning glare before his teasing caused Reid to explode from embarrassment right there on the spot. “The book? What’s it about?”

Reid, thankful for the distraction, twisted in his seat, turning the book over in his hands. “Fascinating, actually. It’s about the last battle between the vampires and the werewolves.”

This time, it was Rossi who looked up from the papers before him. “That was over 700 years ago.”

JJ’s eyes widened. “And you’re sitting here? Reading from a 700 year old book like it’s a paperback.”

“It’s okay,” Reid grinned. “All the ancient texts that survived the Rift were bound with protection spells. I wouldn’t take it swimming, but it’s safe to read. Anyway, and as I’m sure you’re aware, the werewolves were enslaved by the vampires for over a thousand years. The Black Hills was one of the few places for free werewolves. It’s considered sacred ground to them. It’s where..”

“Ulrich the Uniter.”

They all turned at the sound of Hotch’s voice. He stood just behind Rossi’s chair, arms folded over his chest, eyes gazing blankly down at the table.

“He was able to do what no other werewolf had before,” Hotch continued. “Unite the packs and break the vampire bonds.”

“Yes,” Reid spoke again. “The rivalry between vampires and werewolves is strange considering how genetically close the two species are. They’re kind of like cousins.”

Rossi chuckled. “Just don’t say that to their faces.”

“Or within a hundred miles,” Morgan added.

“Sir?” JJ returned her attentions to Hotch. “I’ve never interacted with werewolves before. I mean, not like this.. outside the academy..”

“JJ, c‘mon,” Morgan groaned. “You’re not in any danger.”

“Actually,” Hotch paused, brows creasing. “You are.”

“Sir?” JJ looked up at him, concern written all over her face.

“I should have remembered this back in DC. You smell like Emily. Vampire. We all do.” He ran his fingers over his chin, the tension rising as they all realized the stakes had just been raised. “With her scent on us, we’ll be seen as sympathizers. That’s not a deal breaker but there’s the potential to cause friction, particularly among the festival attendees. Shit..” he mumbled to himself, a tiny crack in his composure, which Hotch immediately filled. “Rossi. Do you have any spells?”

“No. But, I’m sure I can whip something up.”

“Good. Can you have it done in thirty minutes because that‘s when we land,” Hotch said in that manner which was less a question and more a polite order. “I don’t have to tell all of you the stakes here. The faster we do this, and without complications, the better for all of us.”

**

Upon first sight, there was no doubt the Sheriff of Sturgis was a werewolf. Six and a half feet of pure muscle, as if he’d been sculpted by Michelangelo through Tom of Finland, dark brown hair, dark and deep set eyes, sculpted cheekbones behind a neatly trimmed beard.

He stood at the edge of the tarmac, arms folded over his chest, flanked by two of his deputies.

Hotch exited first, hand extended the moment he hit the ground. In three long strides, he and the Sheriff were face to face, hands shaking a bit more firmly than seemed necessary. The air suddenly crackled, the two men silently locking horns as the Sheriff sized Hotch up, displaying dominance, and Hotch didn’t back down.

“Jesus Christ, Sheriff,” one of the deputies groaned, rolling her eyes. “Why don‘t you piss all over the man‘s leg and get it over with?”

Suddenly, the Sheriff relaxed, lips spreading into a wide and toothy grin. The dominance he showed replaced with, not submission, but more a gentle playfulness.

“Sheriff Darren Nickels,” the Sheriff said with a soft Southern accent, taking back his hand and running it through his hair. “Sorry about that. This time a year, gets to be a habit.”

“Understood,” Hotch nodded. “I’m SSA Aaron Hotchner..”

“I know who you are,” Nickels quickly cut in. “I know who y’all are. It’s why I asked you here. These are my deputies. The mouthy one is Deputy Christen. The baby-faced one is Deputy Oakley. For the record, Christen‘s human, Oakley‘s one of us.” He turned his eyes to the rest of the team. “A wolf.”

“Have there been any other missing persons reports since the last one?” Rossi asked, wanting to cut through the introductions.

“No, but that doesn‘t mean no one‘s gone missing. Hikers go up into the woods for days, sometimes weeks,” Nickels answered directly. “I know you all want to get set up as quickly as possible but, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take you to the crime scene first. The sooner I can establish this isn’t a werewolf, the more I can settle some of frayed nerves around here.”

“Problems?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah,” the Sheriff answered. “A bunch of locals decided to start their own hunting party. Went after one of the packs camping at another camp site. It.. didn’t end well, on either end. Got seven in the hospital.”

“Fine.” Hotch pursed his lips. It’s not how he wanted to start a case, but this was important, calming the locals and avoiding any more altercations would do a world of good for their investigation. He took a glance towards the two SUV‘s parked close to the tarmac. “Morgan, you and Reid head into town, start setting up. And stop at the convenience store, see if anyone remembers anything pertinent. Rossi, Jareau, you’re with me.”

JJ flinched, as if to object. As much as she wanted to be a profiler, she was the Communications Liaison, her job would be better served going into town with Morgan and Reid. But Hotch saw the seeds of her objection, gave her the tiniest of glares. A look that said this had nothing and everything to do with her qualifications.

**

The drive took less than thirty minutes. The conversation mostly Hotch asking the Sheriff a series preliminary questions, the agent probing to see whether or not the local Sheriff had been impeding the investigation. As far as any of them could tell, he hadn’t. The Sheriff had worked by the book, in some cases going above and beyond.

As they turned into the park, the Sheriff eyed Hotch. “How do you do it? Run without a pack?”

“I don’t run,” Hotch answered flatly.

“Bullshit,” Nickels huffed. “We all run. I‘ve seen what happens to those who don‘t. Ain‘t a way to go. Could I go without a pack? Probably. We all could in our own way. Live without running? Hell, no.”

From her vantage point in the backseat, JJ could see the muscles in Hotch’s jaw twitch minutely. She hadn’t been with the team very long. As much as she had questions, she knew it would be rude to ask without provocation. Of all of them, Hotch was the least likely to talk about that other side of himself, the one JJ was most afraid to ask. She took a quick glance towards Rossi, who’s interest seemed to pique at the sudden turn in the conversation, validating JJ’s suspicions.

“I never said I don’t run,” Hotch spoke, surprised at his willingness to answer. “I’m a hunter. I chase monsters everyday.”

Nickels grunted in response. “I could see that,” he said, rolling the car to a stop in a parking lot adjacent to the camp site. “But what about a pack?”

Hotch pushed open his door, already halfway out the car. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, “Who said I don’t have a pack.”

The agents followed the Sheriff towards the camp site. From afar, it looked like any camp site in any park. The yellow tape circling around the trees was the first sign something was wrong. There were people standing at various points circling the site, they all turned their heads towards the approaching group.

“I deputized a couple members of my pack,” the Sheriff explained, pulling up a swath a tape and stepping underneath. “To keep the site clean.”

Hotch, Rossi and JJ entered the site, spreading themselves out, each getting a look at their own angle. Seeing something in pictures was one thing, seeing it in person was another matter entirely. The two tents were nothing but shredded tatters, the camping equipment broken, strewn about like flotsam. There were pools of blood every where, as if the victims were torn apart before their bodies were carried away.

Something on the forest floor caught JJ’s eyes. She knelt down, reaching out but careful not to leave any trace as she pushed aside several leaves. It was a driver’s license of one of the victims. He’d just turned seventeen.

“Hotch?” JJ looked up towards the man. “Is this a werewolf attack?”

He stood in the center of the camp site, hands on his hips, brows furrowed as he drew his lips into a tight grim line. “No.” He looked around, a disturbed look on his face. “The Sheriff’s right. This isn’t a werewolf.”

JJ rose to her feet, gazing about in disbelief. From all appearances, it looked like a werewolf attack, but more savage. The idea that there was something out there more brutal than a rogue werewolf sent a shiver down her spine. “If it wasn’t a werewolf..”

“Guys!” Rossi suddenly spoke, his hands slightly raised, fingers splayed open. “Did you feel that?”

Hotch nodded, brows furrowing even deeper.

The Sheriff glanced towards JJ, his confusion matching her own. “Felt what?”

“Magic. Old magic,” Rossi said in a disbelieving tone.

“Anything you recognize?” Hotch asked.

“I haven’t felt magic like this in, well, never. Wait..” His eyes darted about. “It’s gone.”

“Sir,” JJ called out as she walked. “I think you should see this.”

They joined her by the picnic table. “The blood,” JJ explained. “It looks like someone was dragged here and then it just.. stops. How do you remove three bodies without leaving any tracks?”

“I don’t know,” Hotch said softly. “Sheriff, we’re going to need to see the other crime scenes.”

**

JJ slumped back in the passenger’s seat, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. It was close to 2am when finally gave the order to call it a day. A very long day, with too many questions, and too few answers. The senior agent had stayed at the police station, JJ riding with Morgan, while Rossi drove with Reid to their hotel.

JJ shifted in her seat, wincing at her creaking bones and aching muscles screaming for sleep. “Please tell me this isn’t the worst case you’ve ever been on?”

Morgan huffed. “Worst? No. If it gets any stranger, it’ll definitely rank in the top ten.”

Brows crinkling, JJ rested her elbow on the windowsill, knuckles under her chin, not sure if his answer made her feel better or worse. “Can I ask you a question? About Hotch?”

The corner of Morgan’s lips curled into a grin. “You noticed, too. It’s the same with everyone. Reid gets a little weird around cases involving elves, Rossi with witches, Prentiss with vampires. Today, it’s Hotch’s turn.”

“I didn’t know he doesn’t have a pack. What‘s up with that?”

“Not my story to tell. When he tells it to me, I‘ll let you know,” Morgan shrugged. He took a parting glance before refocusing his eyes on the road. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You want to know about me and Emily.”

“I know it’s not my place to ask, and she’d kill me if she knew I was..”

“But?”

“It’s been almost four months. Are you going to blood-bond or not?”

JJ stiffened, jaw clenching as she straightened in her seat. “You’re right, it’s not your place to ask.”

“Shit,” Morgan grumbled, rubbing his fingers over his lips, trying to wipe away the taste of his own foot. “Look, Prentiss isn’t just my partner, she’s my best friend. But, there’s something you have to understand about her, about vampires. They’re all about emotions. They don’t feel like humans do. What they do feel, it’s like it’s amped up to a hundred. Imagine a child feeling pain for the first time. It’s like that for a vampire, instead swap pain with every emotion imaginable - sadness, happiness, hunger, love, hate. Emily’s humanness allows her to compartmentalize, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel it any less.” The car pulled into the hotel parking lot, Morgan finding a spot and stopping the SUV.

“Morgan..”

“I’ve seen the way she looks at you, JJ. I’m just saying, if you’re going to do this, then do it. If you’re not, cut the cord. Cut it now. You wait any longer, it might be you who’s rejected, I just don’t think Prentiss will be the one to survive.”

JJ turned to face him, lips pulling into a soft smile. “Derek Morgan. You.. are a very good friend.”

Morgan exhaled, long and hard. “You’re going to tell her what I said, aren’t you?”

“Emily? I like you way too much to watch her tear you to shreds.” She opened the passenger door, winking playfully as she slid out. “Garcia, on the other hand..”

“Oh, God,” Morgan groaned, sliding out of his own seat to meet JJ at the back of the SUV. “I will pay you good money. Hell, I’d rather you tell Prentiss than say *anything* to Garcia.”

“How much money are we talking?” JJ grinned.

“Excuse me!” a voice called out.

Both agents turned to see a group of men approaching, their movements casually but quickly forming a semi-circle around the agents. Despite the friendly tone, their actions were anything but friendly.

“Can I help you?” Morgan asked, instinctively maneuvering himself in front of JJ. In civilian clothes, without the jackets with FBI stenciled on the back, they looked like tourists checking into the local hotel. They looked like targets.

“What’s your business here?” the largest of the men asked, encroaching into Morgan’s space.

“We already know what they’re business is, they’re wolves..”

“No, we got something worse,” another spoke, the group turning their eyes towards him as he pulled at the amulet hanging from his neck, holding it up so they could all see. The crystal glowed an eerie pink and white color. “We got a couple fang-bangers.”

JJ practically shoved Morgan out of the way as she stomped towards the man, eyes burning hot with rage. “What’d you fucking call me?”

He sneered, looking her down then back up again. “I called you a goddamned fang..”

The sound of flesh connecting with flesh filled the air as JJ’s fist whipped out, cracking hard and fast against the man’s jaw. Before his head finished whipping back, she hit him again.

His friends moved. Morgan was faster, reaching behind his back and pulling his gun. “FBI!” he growled. “Don’t anybody move!”

Another car pulled up, the second SUV, Rossi and Reid jumping out, drawing their guns at the scene before them.

JJ didn’t hear a thing, other than her own rage pounding against her eardrums. Something snapped within her, dark and primal. Once out, it couldn’t be stopped. His back slammed into the parked car behind him, managing to keep him on his feet. JJ swung her fists. She hit him again, and again. When his legs slumped, dropping him to the ground, JJ swung her leg.

“JJ!!”

She barely heard Morgan’s voice, distant and muddy, some intangible thing that should have mattered but didn’t. All that mattered was the man on the ground, the enemy, the blood that spilled from his lips, from his broken nose, it wasn’t enough.

JJ kicked again.

She screamed in frustration as her foot missed completely, as strong arms wrapped tightly around her, yanking her up and back. She hissed and spat, all trapped feral cat attacking its jailer.

“JJ! JJ!!” Morgan spun the woman in his arms around, hands tight on her arms. JJ still fighting, he shoved her back hard against a car, anything to snap her out of it. “JENNIFER JAREAU!!”

JJ blinked at the sound of her name. The haze lifting, she blinked again, staring at Morgan as if she had no idea where he’d come from or why he was holding her so tightly. Her eyes darted around. She could see Rossi and Reid, staring shocked and confused at her as they held their guns on a group of men with their hands up. She saw the man lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

She saw the blood.

“He..” she stammered, feeling the rage within her receding like a fast tide. “He shouldn’t have called me that.”

“Get inside,” Morgan ordered with a shove. “We’ll take care of this.”

The rage ebbing, it felt like it was taking all of JJ’s strength with it. On shaking legs, she moved towards the hotel. By the time she made it to the entrance, she was in a dead sprint.

**

JJ slammed the door to her room behind her, pacing wildly, running her shaking hands through her hair, wondering how she’d so easily lost control.

Without thinking, she started rummaging through the room’s refrigerator. She grabbed the first tiny bottle her fingers could wrap around, hurriedly twisting off the cap and downing the cheap whiskey in one swallow. She moved to the other bottle of whiskey, then the scotch, then the gin. When her frayed nerves seemed settled enough, she rose to her feet, walking the small steps towards the bed.

She sat down then pulled her personal cell from her pocket, turning the device on. She groaned inwardly at the five voice messages from Will, the three from her Dad, another three from her Mother, a veritable shit storm waiting for her when she returned home because her mother couldn’t let JJ tell them on her own terms, with her own words, something so personal.

She dialed the first number she could think of.

“Prentiss.”

JJ smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. Like she’d been lost in the woods for ages, and Emily’s voice was the first she heard. She looked at the clock, wincing at the time. “Please tell me you actually sleep.”

“I sleep just not..” Emily paused. “JJ, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” JJ ran a tired hand over her face. “Everything. My Mom told my Dad. She told Will.” JJ slumped forward, elbow on her knee. “He called me a fucking fangbanger.”

“What!?!” Emily practically shrieked and, wherever she was, JJ knew the woman was instantly on her feet. “I’ll fucking kill him..”

“No!” JJ’s eyes widened. “Not Will. God, no. I’m sorry, Em. I.. Morgan and I ran into some locals with an axe to grind. One of them called me a fangbanger.”

“I’m sorry, Jayj,” Emily softened. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” JJ forced a chuckle. “I kinda beat the shit out of him.”

“That’s my girl. What do you need me to do?”

“Other than be here,” JJ paused, inhaling deeply and letting it out with a long sigh. “Talk to me.”

Emily chuckled softly. “You got it.”

JJ laid back on the bed as Emily droned in her ear, talking about work but nothing case specific, a couple mentions of Garcia that put a smile on JJ’s face. Before long, JJ could feel herself drifting, not to sleep but drifting into a sense of peace and calm. How could she explain *this* to her parents, when JJ didn’t quite understand it herself. One of the worst days in her life, and it wasn’t her parents she called to bring herself down, it wasn’t her fiancé, it was Emily. How could she explain how *safe* Emily made her feel?

As Emily continued to talk, JJ doing nothing but listening, JJ began to warm. Like her rage from earlier, this was something deep within JJ, primal, but rather than hitting her like a freight train, this was slow and creeping, warming her skin, heart rising to a skipping beat, pulsing oily between her legs.

“Emily,” JJ spoke in a low whisper.

“Yeah?”

“Talk to me.”

“I.. thought I was?”

“No. I..” JJ closed her eyes, brought a hand to her forehead, cheeks flushing with embarrassment at having to verbalize what she wanted. “I need you.”

“Oh.” The line filled with silence and just when JJ thought she’d die from embarrassment, Emily spoke again, “No, you don’t want me to talk to you,” Emily said, her voice low and husky, “You want me to fuck you. Is that what you want, JJ?”

JJ swallowed hard, nodding hurriedly before she remembered they were talking on the phone. “Yes.”

Emily chuckled, low and purring, the sound of Emily’s purr enough to send a sucker punch to JJ’s groin. JJ sighed, eyes fluttering closed as Emily said the words. Words that would have sounded crude or distasteful on anyone else’s lips, but on Emily’s were the most erotic sounds in the world.

Unbuttoning her shirt with her free hand, JJ imagined her fingers were Emily’s, doing the things Emily told her she would do, circling around her nipple through the bra, squeezing just right to make JJ hiss, back arching. Then, those fingers were moving down, scraping nails across her stomach, unbuttoning her fly, and JJ groaned as her hand slid deep into her jeans. As the breathing in her ear turned ragged and she knew Emily was doing the same.

“Emily..” JJ whimpered, palm against her clit as she plunged three fingers in deeply. She wanted to be slow, take her time, make it last but, already, her fingers were pumping hard, fast, deep.

“That’s it..” voice straining, Emily panted in JJ’s ear. “Come for me.”

Just those words were enough to push JJ over the edge. Back bowing as the paroxysm hit, she keened through her clenched teeth, cognitive just enough to remember she was in a hotel room instead of where she desperately wanted to be - Emily’s bed.

The embarrassed flush returned to JJ’s cheeks as she slowly came back down. It’d been a long time since she’d done this. A long time since she trusted someone enough to ask.

“Thank you,” JJ finally said.

“Seriously?” Emily chuckled. “My only regret is having to sit here and listen, instead of being there and watching.” There was a pause on the line, the silence heavy enough to turn things serious. “Anything you want from me.. You know that, don’t you? Anything and it’s yours.”

JJ opened her eyes, seeing nothing but ceiling. “I know.”

“Talk to you, soon.”

Disconnecting the line, JJ set her cell on the nightstand next to the bed. She flopped back onto her back, Emily’s words still ringing in her ears. JJ knew it was true, Emily would give her anything. There was, of course, the unsaid caveat. For Emily to give JJ everything, all JJ had to do was give herself to Emily. For the first time..

JJ was thinking about accepting.

**


	4. Chapter 4

Hotch stood waiting for JJ in the hotel lobby. He stood, arms folded over his chest, knuckle under his chin, gazing at the elevators as if he could bore a hole through them with his eyes.

JJ took a long cleansing breath, firming her shoulders before she took those steps towards her boss.

“Do I need to send you back to DC?” were the first words out of Hotch’s mouth.

“Sir?” JJ swallowed, shrinking just a little under his heated gaze. “No. I’m fine.”

“You put a man in the hospital.”

“He called me a fangbanger..”

“It’s just a word.”

“That word..” JJ grit through her clenched teeth, the anger returning, sudden and intense. “Is what they called my sister. Fangbanger. Vamp groupie. Blood cherry..” she paused, taken aback by the intensity of the rage swirling within her. She dared to bring her eyes back to Hotch, expression a little more apologetic. “When he called me that. It just.. it all came back to me. I‘m sorry, Sir. I have no idea what happened, but it won‘t happen again.”

Hotch’s eyes narrowed. “Blood lust.”

“What?”

“Morgan said you went into blood lust.”

“That’s..” JJ’s eyes went wide. “That’s impossible.”

Hotch‘s eyes narrowed slightly, examining JJ, easily slipping from boss mode to profiler. “Have the two of you shared blood? Have you fed from her?”

“But that..” JJ shook her head, unable to comprehend, let alone believe the words coming from Hotch’s mouth. JJ blushed hard at the memory. A night when a session of playful making out turned a little harder, a little rougher. When JJ placed her lips to Emily’s neck and accidentally broke the skin. When Emily cried out, practically in ecstasy, placed her hand to the back of JJ’s head and encouraged her to bite harder. When, instead of being repulsed by the taste of Emily’s blood on her lips, the taste of Emily’s blood turned JJ on. To an incredible degree. “That was weeks ago.”

For the first time since their conversation started, Hotch softened, the corners of his lips twitching into the tiniest of smiles. “You really should read that book. Blood sharing isn’t just an act of intimacy. It’s the sharing of your life force. Through the blood, you aren’t just inside Emily, she’s inside you. How she thinks. How she feels. How she reacts. Until the blood works its way out of your system, those responses are your own.”

“I..” JJ stammered, reeling as if struck by a physical blow. To know this was how Emily felt every second of every day. To know that *intensity* was always inside her. For once JJ, and the blood pumping inside her that was Emily’s, didn’t know how to react.

“I’m going to allow you to stay here and work on the case,” Hotch continued. “But, and no pun intended, you’re going to be kept on a short leash.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“C’mon.” The soft smile still on his lips, Hotch pointed with his head as he turned on his heel. “Let’s go to work.”

**

“Please tell me you have something.” Emily pushed open the door to Garcia’s office with her foot, eyes buried in another of the countless files she’d brought to the computer tech’s office.

“Emily Prentiss!” Garcia spun around in her chair, eyes narrowing as she jabbed the end of her troll covered pen in Emily’s direction. “If you don’t sit down, right this very second, and start talking, I will make copies of your high school yearbook photo and post them all over the office.”

“Whoa!” Emily lifted her hands defensively. “What’d I do now?”

“You, my Siren of Serendipity,” Garcia grinned broadly. “Have been walking around here all morning with a particularly springy spring in your step, a certain color on your cheeks, and a serene smile on your lips. I’m just waiting for the moment you start whistling.”

“Oh.” Emily raised her eyebrows, the warmth creeping onto her cheeks. “Have I been that obvious?”

“Honey, plaid matched with stripes is obvious. You’ve been.. I don’t know what to call it.”

Emily took the empty seat next to Garcia, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as the smile she’d been fighting took over. “I talked to JJ last night.”

“Before or after she went all ‘Rumble in the Bronx’ on some hillbilly?”

“After,” Emily chuckled.

“Wait? You talked to JJ after she put some guy in the hospital and you’re smiling like that?” Suddenly, Garcia’s eyes went wide as she sucked in a surprised gulp of air. “Oh my GOD! You did NOT!”

“Garcia,” Emily said in a warning tone.

“Oh my God, you totally did!” Garcia cackled, clapping her hands in delight. “Emily Prentiss, I think you have overtaken Morgan as number one on my list of stud muffins. I *told* JJ..” Instantly, her eyes going even wider than before, Garcia clamped a hand over her own mouth.

“Garcia,” Emily narrowed her eyes. “You told JJ what?”

Garcia mumbled between her fingers. “What is shared between two friends is confidential.”

“Confidential? Like you aren’t going to tell Morgan that JJ and I had phone sex the first chance you get.”

Offended, Garcia gasped. “I would do no such thing! Now, if he were to figure it out on his own through various pantomimed gestures?”

Emily’s retort was interrupted by the sudden ringing of her cell phone.

“If that’s your Handjob Honey,” Garcia piped in. “Tell her I said ‘hello’.”

“No,” Emily said seriously, rising to her feet. “It’s my mother.” In two long strides she was at the door, opening then just as quickly closing as she realized this wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to have in the hallways of the BAU. “ _Mother_ ,” she spoke in their native tongue, “ _Where the Hell have you been? Where are you?_ ”

“ _Either answer is irrelevant,_ “ Elizabeth answered. “ _It’s what I’ve done that matters. You no longer owe favor to the House of Asclepius._ “

“Mother,” Emily sighed. She placed a hand to the wall, holding her balance as she leaned. No one else on earth could make her feel this way - tiny and small and helpless. “ _You shouldn’t have interfered_.”

“ _You’re my daughter. What else was I supposed to do? I’ve dealt.._ “ her voice dripped venom as she spoke, “ _With that House before. I know what they’re capable of and I won’t allow my daughter to be swindled into dealing with them. I can‘t remove your favor with the Duke but, believe me, he‘ll be getting a talking to, as well._ “

“So it’s true? The Duke wants me to marry his nephew?” Emily spoke in English, hearing Garcia’s audible gasp as Emily had forgotten the other woman was in the room.

“You know about that?” Elizabeth said, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

“I *am* your daughter.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth spoke, and Emily could swear she heard the tiniest hint of a smile in her mother’s voice. “You are. Listen, that’s nothing to concern yourself with. Just ancient history that’s decided to make itself current. I still have some loose strings to take care of but I’ll be back in DC, soon. When I return, we’ll talk.”

“Mom,” Emily sighed. She had a million questions and knew asking them now would be fruitless.

“Take..” Elizabeth paused. “Take care of yourself, Emily.”

“I will.”

Emily closed her cell, slipping it back into her pocket. Behind her, Garcia’s chair squeaked softly, the sounds of tapping on a keyboard once again filling the air. Emily brought a hand to her face, forefinger and thumb massaging away the tension headache she could already feel building.

“Garcia,” she sighed.

“You promised,” Garcia said stiffly, the fingers typing away on her keyboard sounding more and more like pounding. “You promised if you were in trouble you’d ask for help. An arranged marriage with a vampire? Sounds like trouble to me.”

At the moment, Emily wasn’t sure which was worse - facing her mother, or facing an angry Garcia.

**

The others were already at the crime scene by the time Hotch and JJ arrived. The Sheriff, his Deputies were also there, along with about 30 other people.

“What’s going on?” JJ asked, following Hotch as they exited the SUV.

“Nothing leaves no tracks,” Hotch explained. “I’ve arranged for a search party. We’re going to scour the woods, look for traces.”

“These are all..” JJ looked at the faces of the crowd. They didn’t look any different than human, but something told her otherwise. “Werewolves.”

“Best damn trackers on the planet,” Sheriff Nickels practically beamed.

Puzzled, JJ turned back to Hotch. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you with Morgan and Reid,” Hotch explained. “They’re going over the crime scene again, working on the profile.”

“If this wasn’t a werewolf, how are we certain it’s not an animal attack? Something Rift related.”

“She’s right, you know,” Reid interjected, seemingly popping up from out of nowhere. He handed JJ the map he and Morgan had been using, a mini geographical profile. “Outside the sentient species, there were almost 500 different species of flora and fauna that also crossed over during the Rift. We could be dealing with an undiscovered Rift species of animal.”

“No,” Hotch said, almost under his breath. “There’s something calculating about this. I can’t explain it but there was something in the way it smelled. It smelled..”

“Evil,” the Sheriff finished.

Hotch nodded minutely. “Not my word of choice but I won’t argue the case.”

“Hey!” Morgan shouted as he stood in the middle of the parking lot, all their heads turning towards the sound of his voice. “You two coming?”

JJ rolled her eyes, watching Reid’s brows crinkle. She followed Reid’s lead, following him as he followed Morgan across the parking lot. She took the map in her hands, unfolding and spreading it open as she walked, taking a cursory glance at the quickly written text in the margins.

“What are the chances,” she asked as she walked, “we’re dealing with a new sentient species?”

Reid’s eyebrows lifted, the wheels in his brain spinning wildly as he calculated the question. “Interesting question. If you add in the number of extinct sentient species - succubi, incubi, tinkles - or the species that didn’t survive the Rift..”

Morgan smiled as he listened to Reid rattle off facts as if he were in a speed reading competition. While he’d stopped paying attention the moment Reid had said ‘Interesting’, Morgan found something comforting in the familiarity, the normalcy of Reid spouting facts in the middle of all this death and destruction.

Then, Reid stopped talking. Which was odd enough, all things considered. But, something made Morgan stop in his tracks, the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on edge as he turned around.

“Hey!” he shouted back to Hotch and the others, arms extended as he stood on the edge of the parking lot. “Where the Hell are JJ and Reid?”

**

“Garcia,” Emily sighed her name. “It’s not trouble. Arranged marriages amongst vampires happens all the time..”

“But you’re not any vampire,” Garcia hastily cut in.

“True, but..” Emily froze. Her eyes widened as her mouth went slack, like the air had suddenly been sucked from the room. Knees buckling, her hand went to her chest, grasping, clawing at the space between her breasts as her heart froze, her lungs seized.

“Emily!” Garcia cried out, jerking up from her seat to catch the falling woman. “What’s wrong?”

The moment her lungs began to work, Emily sucked in a hard, choking breath. “It’s..” She darted her eyes about, her focus far away. “It’s JJ,” she said, surprised at the words leaving her lips.

“JJ?”

“Morgan,” Emily wheezed, waving Garcia off her as she commanded her shaky legs to push her up onto her feet. “Call Morgan.”

Garcia quickly turned, punching the numbers as fast as her keyboard would take them, the two of them listening to the dial tone as she put the call on speaker.

“Morgan!” Garcia practically shouted, not waiting for him to speak.

“I can’t talk, Baby Girl..”

“Morgan!” Emily cut in, hands on Garcia’s desk as she leaned. “Where’s JJ?”

An uncomfortable silence filled the line. “She’s gone, Emily,” Morgan spoke, nothing but disbelief in his voice. “She and Reid. They just.. disappeared.”

**

“JJ..”

She mumbled at the sound of her name, like waking up from a dream. Except, JJ couldn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was walking with Reid, then the feeling of being pulled. No, not pulled, yanked. But, there was another sensation within her. More like, the absence of sensation. JJ’s constant companion, the presence, that’s the only word JJ could think to call it, she’d had within her since the moment she became Emily’s Companion. That feeling, that sensation, JJ could no longer feel it within her anymore.

“Reid,” she whimpered, breath turning ragged as the panic overwhelmed her, hand clawing at her chest like she expected to find a gaping hole. “I can’t feel her, Reid.”

“JJ,” Reid whispered quietly. “It’s okay. You’re all right.”

“No. It’s not okay.” JJ shook her head violently, body wriggling, trying to get away from Reid’s grasp as the panic within her grew. “I can’t feel Emily anymore. Don’t you understand? She’s not inside me.”

“JJ,” his voice a little louder, a little more stern, Reid clasped his hands on both sides of JJ’s face, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Look at me. Emily‘s fine.”

JJ shook her head. “No..”

“Listen to me, JJ. I need you to calm down. Emily’s fine. Nothing’s happened to her.”

“I’m not imagining this!”

“I know you’re not. It’s just.. It’s not what you think.”

JJ closed her eyes, concentrated on her breathing. While she didn’t quite believe Reid, he had more experience in Rift related things. She knew he‘d been there when Emily‘s last Companion died. If he said Emily was all right, JJ had to take the chance and believe him.

“Okay.” JJ swallowed hard, gently clasping Reid by the wrist. As the panic within her began to recede. “I’m okay.”

“Can you stand?”

JJ nodded, Reid already rising, helping to pull JJ up to her feet. She brought a hand to her head, pressing the palm against her temple. Her eyes still refused to focus, other than Reid, everything else looked blurry.

“JJ?” he asked again and, this time, JJ noted the fear in his voice. “Do you have your gun?”

That’s when JJ heard it - something big, something really big moving through the forest, a distant and heavy thump-pause-thump, and getting closer. JJ remembered they were tracking a killer, in unknown territory. Whatever this was, it was too big for either of their 9 millimeters to handle.

Her eyes still wouldn’t focus but she knew something was off. Something was different about the forest around her. There should be pavement beneath her feet where there was now ground, there should be parked cars and picnic tables.

There should be people.

“Reid?” JJ swallowed nervously.

Another loud thump, closer, followed quickly by the splintering of thick wood.

The hand around JJ’s bicep tightened as she felt herself being pulled.

“Run!” was all Reid said before they were both barreling into the forest, in the only direction that mattered - away.

They could hear the thing, the creature - there was no doubt now what it was - getting closer. JJ couldn’t tell if it was her own mind playing tricks on her or if she could actually hear its breathing, a heavy chuffing sound that made the hairs on the backs of her neck stand on edge.

Reid was fast, JJ just fast enough to keep up with him, Reid cognitive enough to keep his steps slow to where she didn’t lose him. But she still couldn’t see, not really, everything was a blur. Even Reid, who was only five steps ahead of her, was more a Reid shaped figure than a man.

It’s how she almost didn’t notice when he stopped. Almost. He’d skidded to a stop, arms wind milling to maintain his balance. By the time JJ noticed, by the time she was able to put the brakes on, it was too late. She slammed into him. Then immediately knew why he’d stopped in the first place when the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath her feet. They fell, tumbling ass over tea kettle down a steep slope, both grunting as the air was knocked from their lungs.

As their tumbling finally slowed, JJ felt Reid’s hands on her again, pulling, yanking her behind the safety of a thick bush. He pulled the hair out of his eyes, tucking it behind his ears, listening intently to the silencing forest.

“I think..” he slowly rose to his feet, eyes scanning the ridge they’d just fallen over. “It’s gone.”

JJ stood next to him, brushing the leaves and dirt from her jacket and jeans, checking to make sure she still had her gun. She blinked enough to know her vision was back but what she saw made her doubt her own eyes. Everything was the same but different. They were still in a forest, but rather than the deciduous flora, everything was a shade more tropical. Vines encircled the trees, flowers the size of her head extending from the branches, the colors almost neon in their intensity.

Then, JJ looked up at the sun.

The sky was blue but darker. The kind of light one sees right after sunrise. Like looking at an eclipse through a welder’s mask,  
the sun was a circular orb, but missing its bright intensity. Instead of bright blue, the sky was several shades darker with stars visible.

“Reid?” She lowered her eyes to gaze at him. “Where are we?”

“The other side,” he gasped in disbelief. “We’re on the other side of the Rift.”

**

“Natasha!” Emily screamed. “If you don’t open this fucking door right now I’m kicking it down!”

Insisting that she come with Emily, Garcia could only shiver, thankful Emily’s rage wasn’t directed at her. Even with Garcia’s formidable skills, she couldn’t book a direct flight. Everything was either full or the layovers were in locations that defeated the purpose of flying. Which was how they found themselves here - a vamp hotel, Emily banging on Natasha’s door. Getting past the first guard had been easy, Emily merely flashed her badge, along with her fangs and the guard immediately backed down. The second one hadn’t been so bright, reaching into his coat. Emily didn’t even pause, just ran straight into him, backhanding him so hard Garcia swore she heard the vamp’s neck snap.

“Natasha!” Emily banged again, the door practically shaking on its hinges. “I swear..”

The door swung wildly open.

Nicolas, with eyes black as midnight, stood in the entrance, wearing nothing but a lascivious grin and a massive erection. “Emily Prentiss,” he drawled. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“You’re still up,” Emily snarled, shoving her way past him and into the room. “No pun intended.”

“And,” he turned his eyes towards Garcia. “You brought me a present.”

“Touch her and I’ll rip your fucking arm off. No.. I‘ll rip this off!” She whipped back around, grabbing him by the family jewels and squeezing until Nicolas curled forward, grunting painfully. Emily released her hold, shoving him back so Garcia could enter.

“So protective of your food,” he coughed, but not before making sure he was out of arms reach, a hand already protectively covering his crotch.

“Hey!” Garcia barked. “I am *not* food!”

Emily stomped deeper into the hotel room. “Where’s your sister?”

“I’m here.” Natasha exited the bedroom, naked as her brother, her lips and chin smeared with blood. “If I had known we were having guests, I would have ordered more party favors.”

Emily marched towards the woman, not stopping until they were toe to toe. “You have a plane. I want it.”

Natasha‘s eyes narrowed to playful slits, as she lasciviously ran her tongue across her lower lip. “Are you asking me for favor?”

Without the heels, Emily had a good six inches of height on Natasha. So Emily leaned, narrowing her own eyes as she looked at Natasha. “No,” she said flatly. “ _I’m offering an exchange._ ”

Natasha smacked her lips, eyes going hooded at Emily‘s display of dominance. “ _I thought we’d already played this game?_ ”

“ _And if I recall correctly_..” Emily purred lowly, bringing the tips of her fingers to Natasha’s chin, lifting the woman’s head then tilting to the side, exposing her neck, then Emily ran her nose along the line of the vein just beneath the surface. “ _You thoroughly enjoyed yourself. It’s a simple enough exchange. Your jet_..” Emily sucked an earlobe between clenched teeth, pulling until it popped wetly as she drifted a hand to Natasha‘s breast, squeezing the nipple hard enough to make the vampire hiss. “ _For another taste of what you’ve already indulged in._ ”

“Natasha..” Nicolas growled, only to be cut short by Natasha’s quickly raised hand, cutting him off. Nicolas snapped his mouth closed, leaving no doubt as to who was the dominant twin.

Natasha’s eyes fluttered as Emily gave another hard tweak of her nipple before releasing. Chest practically heaving, Natasha slowly opened her eyes, the black gone, replaced with an icy blue. “There may be doubt as to whether you’re a vampire, but there is no doubt you are the daughter of Elizabeth Prentiss.”

“Do we have a deal?”

“Oh my sweet, Emily.” Natasha smiled maliciously. She brought a hand to Emily’s cheek, tracing the backs of her knuckles across the skin, leaving the tiniest smear of blood. “I’m not that easy. I will accept your offer, on one condition, you share yourself..” This time, it was Natasha who brought her lips to the shell of Emily’s ear purring low and throatily, “With the both of us.”

Emily didn’t blink. She didn’t pause. She wasn’t quite so naïve this time around. The stakes weren’t so high before. “Deal.”

**

Hotch looked at his watch for the millionth time, as if the very act of checking the time would make things sort themselves out, at least, make a lick of sense. It was his job to remain cool, level-headed in the worst of situations. Right now, all that training, all that *control* he exerted over himself meant nothing. He could feel it getting to him, the smell of fear in the air, the apprehension, the total loss of control over the unknown.

He’d lost two of his agents. From right under his nose. Literally. He’d been standing less than 30 yards away. He didn’t have to close his eyes to imagine the last moment he saw Reid and JJ, all he had to do was stare at the empty space of the parking lot the two agents were crossing when they disappeared.

He’d paced over that very spot a hundred times. Reid and JJ’s scents were still in the air, hovering and then nothing. Just.. nothing. He’d stood on the very spot they’d disappeared. Agitation crawled all over him like multiple itches he couldn’t scratch. He stepped towards the edge of the parking lot, where the Sheriff and his pack had stripped off their clothes to change form before running into the forest to chase a scent that wasn’t there. For the first time in a very long time, Hotch wished he’d joined them. To feel the wind on his face, to feel that familiar ache of burning lungs and heated muscles. To feel that freedom that came with a run.

“Hotch?” Rossi’s voice jolted Hotch from his thoughts. Rossi didn’t need to ask, the expression was written all over his face, wondering whether or not Hotch was okay. Whether any of them would be okay ever again. “You gonna call Strauss back, or should I?”

“It’s been less than three hours,” Hotch barely contained the growl rumbling up his throat. The last thing he needed or wanted was the Section Chief sticking her nose where it was neither wanted nor didn’t belong. “She can wait.”

Rossi quieted, examining Hotch in his own way, as Hotch’s eyes continuously scanned the ground, searching. “Hotch..”

“How could they just disappear?” he finally said, voice barely above a whisper.

“They didn’t,” Rossi answered, Hotch’s face whipping towards him, brows squeezed even tighter. “They’re just not..” Rossi stretched out his arms, eyes darting around them. “Here.”

“We need better than that, Rossi.”

“I know. I’ve spent the last hour talking to my colleagues. They’re as stumped as we are. But..” He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell, hitting quick dial and placing it on speaker phone. “There is one thing we haven’t tried. Garcia?”

“Please tell me you have some good news!” Garcia answered.

“I wish I did. Can you access the MIST satellite?”

“Presuming I have any idea what you’re talking about, which I don’t,” Garcia quickly fired back, fingers already clacking loudly and quickly on her keyboard. “And even with my formidable skills, it’d take an uber-Jedi skilled hacker to get into the satellite that I, for the record, have no such knowledge of. I‘m good, Rossi, but even I, as much as it pains me to admit, am not that good.”

“And if I gave you..” he paused, reaching into his pocket to pull out his notepad. “A backdoor?”

“Then talk dirty to me, lover man.”

Despite the circumstances, even Rossi couldn’t help himself from chuckling. “Once you’re in, I need satellite images from the last 48 hours.”

“You got it.”

**

“Talk to me, Baby Girl,” a weary sounding Morgan spoke into Garcia’s headset.

“Honestly, I wish I had something, Morgan. But, it’s going to take me, at least, another hour to get Rossi’s sat images.”

It’d an hour since she’d received her call from Rossi, and Garcia had been thankful neither he nor Hotch asked where, exactly, Garcia was. She didn’t want to explain how she was 30,000 feet above the ground doing what felt like the speed of light. She didn’t exactly regret insisting she come along with Emily, but, she had to admit, she was starting to have doubts.

It’d been awhile since she’d been around vampires, pure vampires like the Duke’s niece and nephew. That had been creepy enough but to stand witness while Emily made a deal with them. She’d made Emily promise to tell her if Emily was in trouble, she just didn’t think she’d be there to bare witness when it happened.

“Morgan?” she spoke after the silence on the line went on a little too long. “You still there?”

“I’m here,” he sighed.

“How are you doing?”

“Frazzled. Frustrated,” he paused, another silence filling the line. “They were right there, Garcia. Right there and I didn’t see a damn thing.”

“It’s not your fault, sweetie.”

“I just.. Why am I still here and they’re gone?”

“We’ll figure it out. And we’ll get them back.”

“Thanks, Garcia. How’s Prentiss?”

Garcia stopped typing. Emily sat a row behind her. Garcia dared to lean over into the aisle and look back. Emily hadn’t moved since the last time Garcia looked in on her. She just sat there, with pitch black eyes and a glint of fang showing through her barely parted lips, staring blankly out the window, a raised hand curling in and out of a fist.

Garcia turned back around. “You don’t want to know.”

“Yeah,” Morgan exhaled. “I think I have an idea. I’d say tell her not to worry but we both know she wouldn’t listen. Talk to you, soon.”

Garcia disconnected the line, returning to her computer, letting herself get lost in the hypnotic rhythm of typing and the stream of visual information pouring onto the screen.

“You shouldn’t have lied to him,” Emily said, talking for the first time since their plane lifted off.

Garcia stopped typing, leaning over and craning her head back so she could see Emily.

Emily continued staring out the window, curling her fingers into her hand. “She’s gone, Garcia. I can feel it.”

“Don’t say that!” Garcia snapped. Not just to bring Emily out of her haze, but to cling to those last tattered bits of hope. “Don’t even think it. Rossi thinks there might be magic involved..”

“There’s no spell in the world that can sever the bond between a Sire and Companion.”

“But you’re not just a Sire, Emily. You’re also human. The rules don’t exactly apply to you.” Garcia watched as Emily blinked, brows crinkling as Garcia’s words started to sink in. “JJ’s out there somewhere. I know it. She wouldn’t give up on you. Don’t you dare give up on her.”

**

“Reid..” JJ panted.

“We’re almost there.”

They’d been running for hours. JJ hadn’t questioned Reid when he said they needed to get out of the forest. She didn’t question him when he said they needed to find shelter before sundown. But, JJ wasn’t an elf. She didn’t have his endurance. She didn’t have his unique ability to process information. And it was all starting to catch up with her.

They were on the other side. The _other_ side. Which should have been impossible. That world should have been destroyed by the Rift. But, it was here. It was real. And she and Reid were on one side, while everyone else, everything she knew and understood was on the other.

“Reid!”

She ran track in high school, played soccer in college, ran five miles every day. But, every body has its limits, and JJ’s body had crossed the threshold several miles back. JJ came to a sudden stop, hands on her knees as she bent over gasping for air, every muscle in her body burning, screaming at the continuous exertion.

“You okay?” he jogged back to her, placing a hand on her lower back as JJ silently cursed the fact that Reid had barely broken a sweat.

“I’m fine..” she huffed. “I just need a break.”

“We’re almost there.”

Having caught most of her breath, JJ rose to stand, hands on her hips as her eyes gazed about searching for where Reid said they were going. “Where?”

“Sturgis,” Reid said, pointing with his head. “If I’m right, it’s just over that hill.”

“Fine. If it’s just over that hill, can’t we walk to it?”

“I..” Reid paused, turning his face back towards JJ, features etched with concern. “I don’t think that would be wise. We’ve got another 10 minutes until sunset.”

“What happens at sunset?” JJ finally asked.

“You remember when I said there were species of Riftlings that didn’t crossover during the Rift? If I’m correct, they’re still here. They‘ve been here.. all along.”

JJ didn’t bother asking if ‘they’ were dangerous, the look on Reid’s face said everything. “That’s what took those people?”

He nodded. “I believe so.”

“Then we should go back. If they can..”

Suddenly, a rock, about the size of a quarter, sailed through the air, striking Reid against the temple.

“Ow!” He brought a hand to his face, rubbing where the rock had hit him. “Did you just throw a rock at me?”

“Reid!” JJ gaped at the man. “I’m standing right here. How could..”

Another rock sailed through the air, hitting JJ on the arm. What was one or two turned into a torrent as the coin sized rocks rained down on the agents. JJ’s heart pounded in her chest, the fear gripping her as she wondered what new threat they were under.

Something darted in the bushes ahead of them, no more than three feet tall. One arm shielding her face from the barrage of rocks, JJ drew her gun, aiming.

“NO!” Reid shouted, grabbing her by the wrist and pushing her hand down. He stepped in front of JJ, hand before his head to keep from getting hit in the face. “ _Peace!_ ” he shouted in his native tongue. A language JJ hadn‘t heard since her Academy days, and those times she tried to follow a soap on the Elven network. “ _We come in peace._ ”

The hail of rocks stopped, followed quickly by an eerie silence. There was the soft shuffling of leaves then quiet whispering. Reid lowered the hand before his face, raising his hands defensively as he stepped forward.

“ _Friend,_ ” he called out, then he pulled the hair back from his face, exposing his ears, turning his head back and forth to show them. “ _See. Friend._ ”

The whispering turned into an animated chatter. The leaves of the bush closest to them twitched. Then something stepped out. It, no, he, JJ could definitely tell it was male, stood no more than three feet tall. Pale, blue-white skin on a thin, wiry frame that seemed too small for the almost oversized and bald head, a little bit of scruff growing from his chin and tied together with string. His eyes were his most striking feature, they were large, two inches high and just as wide, the irises taking up all the surface. He wore simple breeches made of animal skin. In his hands, he held a tiny bow and arrow that looked comical but, from this distance, would have been deadly.

He blinked, looking at JJ then back to Reid then spoke in a language JJ didn’t understand. Reid relaxed, smiling. “ _Yes,_ ” he answered back. “ _Elf_.”

If such a thing were possible, the little man’s eyes went even wider as his lips stretched into a broad and toothy grin, exposing wide box-shaped teeth, the two front teeth slightly longer, like a woodchuck. He turned, calling to the others.

The bushes erupted. They came from everywhere and nowhere. A half dozen before JJ stopped counting. Some deftly climbed up the trees, hanging from the branches to get a closer look. Mostly, they just crowded around JJ and Reid, mostly Reid, their little hands reaching up, almost reverently, pulling at his jeans, his jacket, his hands.

JJ almost jumped at the sensation of tiny fingers circling around her own. She looked down to see wide eyes gazing expectantly. They chattered quickly, undecipherable to JJ’s ears, as they pulled JJ and Reid into the forest.

“Reid?” JJ called out nervously.

“It’s okay.” He turned his head to give her a reassuring look. “They’re Brownies.”

“Brownies?” JJ gaped, pulled into motion by the tiny hands grasping at her fingers. “I thought they were extinct?”

**


	5. Chapter 5

“Sheriff, this is Christen. Come in, Sheriff.”

The Sheriff and his pack returned a little after sunset, grim faced and empty handed. He stood next to his Bronco, elbow on the windowsill as he spoke into his mic.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Sheriff, we got a black SUV.. GODDAMIT, would you watch the fucking road!!” Christen quickly barked at whoever was driving. “Blew through the road block and is coming your way like a bat out of hell.”

“Christ. What now?” Nickels grumbled before talking into his mic again. “Ten-four. And, just, back off will ya? Don‘t want ya’ll plowing into anybody.”

“Problem?” Hotch asked, more out of politeness. They’d all heard the radio. But, before Nickels could answer, the sounds of sirens in the distance filled the air, a set of headlights strobing through the trees as it careened wilding up the road.

With a nod of Nickels head, one of the newly deputized hopped into the nearest cruiser, quickly pulling backwards the car onto the road, blocking it. There was the glint of metal as some of the search party began reaching for their guns, the sound of rounds being loaded.

The SUV hit the last s-curve before the approach to the parking lot, back wheels skidding, screeching on the pavement before hitting gravel.

“Wait!” Morgan burst from the trees, cell phone glued to his ear with one hand while he waved wildly with the other. “Hold your fire!”

He skidded to a stop close to Hotch.

“What’s going on?” Hotch asked.

“Prentiss,” Morgan panted. “It’s Prentiss.”

“You‘ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Hotch’s jaw clenched, forming tight muscular knots under his ears. In his feverish of dreams, he couldn‘t have picked a better nightmare. “Sheriff, tell your men..”

The SUV, Emily behind the wheel, swerved hard around the cruiser blocking the road. It skidded to a stop, just inches from the yellow police tape circling the entrance to the parking lot.

Emily practically kicked open her door, ripping open the police tape as she stormed across the pavement. Morgan was already running, trying to meet the woman halfway.

“You need to get back in your car, Emily,” he warned, his step slowing as he saw her midnight eyes, fangs fully extended.

“Fuck off, Morgan,” she growled, her eyes fixed on one person and one person only.

It wasn’t just Emily’s growl filling the air. The Sheriff’s pack, already on edge, the moment Emily’s scent hit the air, they dropped their guns, trading them for yellowing eyes, bones popping as fingers extended into claws.

“Emily,” Hotch growled as his own eyes turned yellow, his wolf leaking through the tiny cracks of his control. “You need to stand down.”

“You were supposed to protect her!” Emily grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, fingers curling into tight fists. “You were supposed to keep her SAFE!!”

With that, Emily shoved. She shoved hard. In less than a second, Hotch careened backwards, fast as a cannonball. He slammed hard against a car, the metal buckling, tires bouncing from the impact. Hotch landed on all fours, head whipping towards Emily as he snarled, exposing extending canines. As he rose to a crouch, Emily charged.

“ENOUGH!” Rossi’s voice boomed. He moved, cocking his arm like a pitcher throwing a strike, but instead of a ball made of corkwood and leather, Rossi threw fire. It landed in the space between Hotch and Emily, exploding like fireworks between the two. It was forbidden to use magic against fellow agents but, Rossi knew, if he didn’t Emily and Hotch would probably kill each other. If Emily survived, the Sheriff’s pack would tear her apart.

The blast knocked Emily onto her backside, enough to knock some sense into her, make a crack in her blood lust some of her control oozing through the fissures.

His back to Hotch, Rossi stood between the two feuding agents. Hands held before him, tiny bolts of electricity crackled between his fingers. “I don’t want to hurt you, Emily. But, we both know I can,” he warned. “You know I will.”

Emily rolled until she could sit up, elbow on her raised knee as she collapsed her weary head onto her hand. “She’s dead, Rossi,” she said solemnly, eyes misting back to their normal brown. “JJ’s dead.”

Rossi relaxed his hands as he approached his heartbroken friend. He knelt down, placing a comforting hand on Emily’s knee. “JJ’s not dead,” he paused, watching as Emily lifted her head, teary eyes filling with hope. “If you put the fangs away for a half second, I can prove it to you.”

Emily didn’t want to believe. She *couldn’t* believe. She knew what she felt, that connection between them gone. “How?”

He smiled softly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell. “Garcia?”

“Yes, Sir!”

His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as the sound of the woman’s voice came not only from his cell but also from behind him. He turned his eyes towards the car Emily had driven to see Garcia exiting the passenger’s seat. The lab tech waved emphatically as Rossi turned his eyes back to Emily, raising an eyebrow.

“Don‘t look at me,” Emily raised her hands defensively. “She wanted to come along. We both know Garcia gets what Garcia wants.”

**

Thankfully, Reid had been correct. The town of Sturgis was right over the next hill. But it wasn’t the town JJ remembered. This Sturgis was the town of a 150 years ago, the one before the Rift took all of its citizens away. There’d only been one road back then, and now, it was nothing more than grass and the trees that had started growing in the cracks of the pavement 150 years ago. There were five buildings still standing, barely. They were covered in moss, half of the roofs caved in, windows and doors long gone.

The Brownies led the two agents to the largest building, the words ‘General Store’ barely visible after years of suffering from the elements. They were lead into a basement, where a cave had been hollowed out in the walls. The Brownies didn’t live in the General Store as much as they lived under it.

They were brought into the main living space of the cave, the space more than ample for the Brownies but JJ and Reid had to duck their heads. There were tiny fires, with tiny little pots over them. JJ could see the ventilation holes burrowed above their heads.

They sat down around the largest fire, where they were greeted by what JJ assumed was the elder. He was old, ancient. He began speaking to the Brownie they’d first met in the forest before he began talking to Reid.

“Reid,” JJ shook her head. “What’s he saying?”

“Oh,” Reid raised his eyebrows, not oblivious to JJ’s presence as much as forgetting she didn’t speak Elven. “This is Man’ha, he’s the tribe leader.”

“I got that part.”

“He wants to know if we’re thirsty.”

JJ nodded, licking dry lips as her body immediately responded to the question. A hollowed out gourd was passed to her. JJ blushed as she downed half the container without blinking before passing it to Reid. Next came a bowl of food, and even JJ’s hungry stomach churned at the sight of the squirming grubs. Man’ha chirped angrily, the bowl quickly taken away.

“What’s going on?” JJ asked to Reid.

He leaned slightly, whispering, “He’s asked them to prepare a special meal for their guests.”

“Oh.” JJ lifted her eyebrows, not wanting to think about what the Brownies considered special.

As Man’ha continued, Reid interpreted for JJ. The tribe had lived in the woods since long before the war between the werewolves and vampires. As the elder spoke, the Brownies edged themselves closer to JJ and Reid. The little ones in particular, completely fascinated by the two agents. They were the ones that edged the closest, with their big and bright curious eyes, staring as if in awe.

JJ reached into her pocket, pulling out the rubber band she always carried around. As she pulled back her hair to place it into a ponytail, the Brownies that had swarmed around her suddenly scurried away, chirping animatedly as some of them pointed.

Reid started laughing.

“What?” JJ gaped, wondering what cultural faux pas she’d committed this time.

“Your ears,” Reid pointed. “They want to know what happened to your ears.” He turned his eyes towards them, speaking in Elven. There was a long, mutual ’ooh’ before the elder began speaking again. “He says,” Reid explained. “There haven’t been humans here since after the Rift.” He spoke again in Elven before leaning over and whispering to JJ as Man‘ha replied.. “I asked him about the creatures in the forest. He says the thing that chased us was a..,” he paused, searching for the right word. “Like a wild boar, but more the size of a horse.” Reid asked another question, brows furrowing as Man’ha gave him the answer.

“What’s going on?” JJ asked.

“I asked him about the missing campers. He said something else lives in the forest, a tribe of Not-fu.”

“What are those?”

“I..” Reid shook his head. “I don’t know.”

JJ blinked her response, surprised there was something Reid didn‘t know. Before she could ask another question, two bowls were set before each of them. Following Reid’s lead, JJ picked up her bowl, taking a tentative sniff before lifting out the spoon, pleasantly surprised at the soft tomato-based scent filling her nostrils. Reid had already started digging in. It was a red, soupy concoction, with white, potato-ish type chunks. Deciding she was just too damn hungry to really care what was in it, JJ closed her eyes and shoved the spoon into her mouth.

Instantly, JJ’s eyes snapped open. She pulled the spoon from her mouth, scooped another spoonful and quickly placed it into her mouth, like she couldn’t believe what her tongue was telling her.

“Reid!”

He looked at her, lips pursing into a disapproving line as he saw how few bites she’d eaten. “JJ, don’t be rude. We’re their guests.”

“I..” JJ grit. “I’m not being rude. This is ‘Chef Boyardee’. ‘Chef Boyardee‘?” He blinked at her in that way that said he had no idea what she was talking about. “Ask them where they got this.”

Reid turned to the elder, speaking in Elven again. Then, his back straightened as he looked down at his own bowl, then back towards JJ, his eyes wide.

**

Morgan stood at the edge of the parking lot, arms folded over his chest, back against the side of the rented SUV. He’d stood this way, practically motionless, for the past hour, doing nothing but watching Emily. Who, for the past hour since Hotch had let her out of his sight and putting Morgan on guard duty, had done nothing but trace the same steps she’d taken around the space where JJ and Reid had disappeared.

He’d never say it out loud but, for Morgan, there were days when it sucked to be human. On a team with individuals who could see, smell, hear things that were beyond his capabilities. The team never made him feel less than. Morgan had abilities of his own, his ‘human instincts’ Rossi had once called it. A phrase Morgan had kept stenciled on the back of his brain. It didn’t stop him from his moments of feeling inadequate, especially on days like today, when his human instincts had failed him. When he had failed them.

Now, he’d failed his best friend.

She’d stopped pacing, stopping feet from the space where JJ and Reid had disappeared and kneeling down. In her ‘vampire gear’, as Morgan liked to call it, black boots, leather pants, long trench, like she didn’t want the stains to show when the blood began to flow. He’d only seen her dressed like this once before - when Doyle returned and came excruciatingly close to tearing Emily’s life apart.

Morgan moved, quietly walking towards Emily, stopping feet from her and tucking his hands into his pockets.

“I can’t feel her anymore, Morgan,” Emily spoke quietly, fingers sliding across the concrete, picking up tiny bits of gravel. “I felt it when she..” she paused, hand curling into a fist as the memories turned to physical sensations. “Like Robert, the ones before, except this was worse..”

“Prentiss,” he cut her off, not wanting to listen as she drowned in her own words. “We’re gonna get them back.”

“What makes you so sure they’re still alive?”

Morgan’s lips pursed into a grim line, searching hard for the words that would keep his partner from slipping even further into the darkness. A darkness he could feel enveloping both of them. “Faith,” he finally answered.

Emily picked up a pebble, casually tossed it across the lot. “You know I don’t believe..”

“Then why are you here?” he fired back. “If you know she’s dead, why not stay in DC? Why risk coming out here for a question you already know the answer to?”

Emily rose to her feet, neck craning backwards as she let out a long sigh. “Derek..”

“You’re here because, beneath that vampire, there’s a human who believes. There’s a human in there that still has hope.” He stepped closer, maneuvering around until they were eye to eye. Placing both hands on her shoulders, Morgan gently shook Emily. “She’s strong, Emily. Stronger than you want to admit. Besides,” he paused, lips pulling into a half-grin. “My boy’s with her. He’ll keep her safe. And if anyone can find a way to bring them back, he can.”

“Derek Morgan,” Emily smiled weakly, placing a hand on his wrist. “Why do you always know the right thing to say, just when I need to hear it?”

Morgan’s smiled broadened. “Human instinct.” He leaned in close, pulling his arm around Emily’s shoulder, turning the both of them. “C’mon, let’s see what Rossi’s up to.”

Rossi and Garcia were at a picnic table, a lantern providing the illumination. Garcia’s laptop was open, surrounded by tiny little jars that were used to hold down the reams of pages Garcia had printed out. Rossi sat next to her, quickly grinding with a mortar and pestle.

“Dear God in heaven,” Morgan quickly grabbed the flap of his jacket and brought it over his nose. “Do I even *want* to know what’s in there?”

“Shush!” Garcia rolled her eyes. “I think we’re on the verge of a breakthrough.”

“She’s right.” Rossi slowed his stirring, reaching for one of the maps. “The MIST satellite..”

“MIST?” Emily shook her head questioningly.

“And when Rossi says that word,” Garcia quickly cut in. “You pretend like you never heard it. People have disappeared over less.”

“Let’s just say the vampires aren’t the only ones with eyes in the sky,” Rossi continued, spreading a sheet out over the picnic table. “MIST tracks magic activity around the planet. To keep track of our less law-abiding brethren. When we first arrived, Hotch and I felt something. A kind of magic I’d never felt before. So, I asked myself, how does someone make a person disappear without leaving any trace?”

“Magic.” Emily added.

“Yes and no. Instead, think of it more like sleight of hand. Case in point.” Rossi held up a coin, placed into the palm of his right hand. Then, he curled his hand into a fist, when he opened it again, the coin was gone. He then opened his left hand, the coin sitting in the center of his palm. “It’s an old trick. Child’s play, really. I just couldn’t figure out how someone could do it on this scale. So, I had Garcia go over the satellite images..”

“And you found something?” Morgan asked.

“I found something.” He pulled out another sheet, placed it top of the other one. It was a satellite image, but all the colors were off, everything in purples and reds. “MIST tracks magic using the intrared-spectrum.”

“What are we looking at, Rossi?”

“This is the camp site from three days ago. See the white?” He slid the top page off, revealing the map beneath it. “This?” He tapped the white smudge on the paper. “Is today. Nine and a half hours ago, to be exact.”

“Okay, so we know magic’s involved.” Emily placed her hands on the picnic table, squinting her eyes as she stared at the page, as if she could physically reach down and pull JJ and Reid from danger. She lifted her head again, meeting Rossi’s eyes. “I felt it when she disappeared. No matter where JJ is, I should still be able to feel her. What kind of magic could break the bond between a Sire and a Companion?”

“That’s the million dollar question, kiddo.”

“Fine.” Morgan placed his hand on Emily’s shoulder, feeling her relax at his touch. “So we know magic’s involved. What next? And please tell me it has something to do with that god awful smell.”

“Divining rods.” Garcia held up a large branch. “Well, magic-infused divining rods, once the spell is completed. Just like the satellite that shall not be mentioned, we can do one step better. Be on the ground should this particular magic be used again.”

Rossi nodded. “Considering the majority of the victims were taken from this area. It’s a strong possibility they’ll return.”

Emily bowed her head, letting out a long exhale. “And we can find them.”

“See, partner,” Morgan grinned, placing both hands on her shoulders and shaking softly. “Faith.”

Emily smiled weakly, keeping her head down.

She never said she believed they’d find them alive.

**

It was ironic, JJ thought, that the food she hated as a child, canned ravioli, just might be the very thing that saved her life. Particularly, since Reid had never touched the stuff. She’d made him ask where the Brownies had gotten the food. They took them to another part of the cave, their food storage, and there, amongst the baskets of berries and plants, sat several dozen cans of food, bags of potato chips, Twinkies, candy bars. When Reid asked Man’ha where they’d gotten all this, the elder Brownie simply replied..

 _The Giving Tree_.

Which was how JJ and Reid found themselves walking through the forest in the middle of the night. But, night on the other side was as different as the day. Unlike the sun, which was dim, the moon was bright. At just a crescent hanging low in the sky, it shone brightly. Even without the vision of a Brownie or an Elf, JJ could walk clearly through the forest.

The sounds coming from the forest were strange but, judging by the Brownies leading them to the tree, nothing unnatural. When JJ looked up at the sky, she saw a sky unmarred by the pollution of her world. Everything was crystal clear, stars glittering like diamonds, behind an aurora borealis composed of every color in the rainbow. 

They were led by the tribe’s five best warriors, with their makeshift axes and tiny bows. Who would stop every couple minutes, ears going straight as they lifted their noses, sniffing quietly, before continuing on.

For all intents and purposes, they were walking through the streets of Sturgis. Something caught JJ’s eye, a building hidden within a copse of trees. Unlike all the other buildings, this was made of stone. Which was why it had lasted the test of time.

“Reid,” JJ whispered forcefully. “Is that a church?”

Reid looked to where JJ pointed, eyes squinting for a better view. “You could call it that,” he whispered back.

“What else would you call it?”

“The vampires.”

“I didn’t know vampires were religious.”

“They’re not religious, per se,” he said, switching on a dime and going into academic mode. “They don’t worship deities, or mythological figures..”

“Then what do they worship?” Too busy staring at the church, JJ didn’t notice Reid had stopped walking until she almost crashed into him. Then, JJ felt it, like something crashing into her soul, as her knees buckled and her hand went to her chest. Immediately, Reid was at her side, the Brownies protectively surrounding the both of them. “I can feel her, Reid,” JJ whispered. “I can feel Emily.”

“We’re here,” he said, eyes scanning about the trees.

JJ looked forward, following Reid‘s eyes. But, she couldn’t see the forest from the trees, literally. ‘Here’ meant nothing. “How can you tell?”

“Can’t you smell it? It smells like..” Reid began walking forward as if transfixed. “Home.”

Of course, JJ couldn’t smell anything other than damp earth and foliage. Reid was up on his feet, JJ quickly following. They followed the Brownies until they approached a tree that, really, didn’t look that much different from all the others. It was tall, old, at least three feet wide at the base.

One of the Brownies began climbing. Both JJ and Reid turned on their flashlights, tracking his movement. Eight feet up from the base, there was a hole, a burrow of some sort.

“ _This is it?_ ” Reid spoke to the leader. “ _This is where you get the food?_ ” The Brownie began talking, Reid interpreting for JJ. “He says this showed up about three months ago. It’s where they used to get their eggs before the birds disappeared. He followed the scent and found himself in a giant food room,” Reid stopped to chuckle.

“What?” JJ shook her head.

“I think we may have found the Sheriff’s thieves. If I’m right, this leads to the convenience store next to our hotel. Except,” he pursed his lips, brows crinkling. “There’s no way either of us can fit through there.”

“Maybe, we don’t have to.” JJ began patting the pockets to her jacket. “Reid, do you still have your cell?”

**

“How long until it’s ready?” Hotch asked. All of them were gathered around the table, unable to do anything but watch Rossi and Garcia work.

Rossi grumbled, “A couple more hours, at least. I’m a mage, not a miracle worker.”

“And you’re sure it’ll work?”

“It’s the best chance we got. Nothing else makes sense unless we put magic into the equation. But, we‘re dealing with something completely new. I couldn‘t tell you if this old magic or a new spell.”

**

Emily sat on a bench on the edge of the grounds, away from Rossi and the others. Mostly, she wanted to stay clear of the werewolves. They’d been eyeing her hard since she‘d arrived, and their agitation was starting to get to her.

Of course, she couldn’t go anywhere without her second shadow. Morgan sat on the bench next to her, mimicking her pose, elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

He tapped the side of her shoe with his foot. “When’s the last time you ate?”

“I’m not hungry, Morgan.”

“That’s not what I asked. We’re all running on fumes here. I’m gonna suggest we send someone into town. Get some burgers and about fifty pints of synthetic. Just because I know how much you love the stuff.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Fuck you, Morgan.”

“Wait.. I’m sorry. Did I just see Emily Prentiss crack a smile?”

Before she could say anything, Emily felt the air suck from her lungs. Her body jerked hard, pushing her forward and landing on her hands and knees. Flailing, she brought a hand to her chest, as her heart began to beat again. And the tears began to well in her eyes.

“Prentiss!” Morgan went to his knees, pulling Emily up. “Emily, what’s wrong?” She didn’t answer, mouth gaping open as she gasped for air. Morgan turned his head. “Hotch!”

She could hear them coming towards her, like the thunder of hooves from a miles away through the earth. None of that mattered. What mattered was the warmth Emily could feel inside her, the missing pieces of her soul slotting home. She blinked, seeing Morgan as her lips stretched into a smile. “I can feel her, Derek. I can feel JJ.”

Hotch skidded to a stop, dropping to his knees so he was level with Emily and Morgan. “What’s going on?” he asked Morgan, eyes glued to Emily.

“I..” Morgan stammered. “I don’t know. She says..”

Emily jerked again, as she sucked in another hard breath, eyes rolling into the back of her skull like she was suffering from a seizure. Then, just as quickly, collapsing forward, caught by both Hotch and Morgan.

“Prentiss,” Morgan said, lifting her head with a hand. “Talk to me, girl.”

Emily closed her eyes, unable to stop the few tears from leaking through, streaming down her cheeks. “I felt her. Then, she was gone.”

“How is that possible?” Morgan asked.

Hotch growled beneath his breath, instinctually reaching for the buzzing cell in his pocket. He flipped it open, intending to hit ‘ignore’, until his eyes read the Caller ID. The hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge.

“It’s..” Hotch stammered, blinking at the tiny screen. “It’s Reid. He sent me a text. ‘JJ and I are fine. On the other side of the Rift. Have Garcia research Brownie word - Not‘fu’. Garcia!” he barked, as if he hadn’t noticed the woman standing behind her.

“Already on it!” Garcia fired back, running back towards her laptop.

Morgan helped Emily to her feet as they walked back to the other table. Garcia’s typing sounded like shotgun blasts.

“Anything?” Hotch asked.

“There’s not much on the Brownies, Sir, except for a few ancient texts So, I’m doing a cross search to see if.. Oh!” she stopped, eyes going wide. “Oh no!”

Emily quickly circled around the table, hovering over Garcia’s shoulders. She gasped, struck by the hardest, deepest of sucker punches, shoulders sagging as she read the words on the screen.

“Oh, God!” was all Emily could manage to say.

**

“JJ?” Reid spoke softly. “Are you okay?”

JJ shook her head. She didn’t remember falling to the ground, just the sensation of the air leaving her lungs, the black creeping into the sides of her vision. She’d felt something. Something she thought she’d never miss until she had it back, only to have it quickly snatched away.

“I can‘t feel her anymore,” JJ swallowed, pressing a palm to her forehead, pushing back the tension headache. She didn’t know what was worse the sudden elation of feeling Emily within her again, or the heart rendering crush when the feeling was gone. “I’m fine.”

Suddenly, the Brownies began chattering animatedly. One of them ran to Reid, eyes wide with fright. The few words he said, JJ understood only one. Not’fu.

Reid swallowed hard. “JJ..” 

“I know.”

In the blink of an eye, the Brownies were gone, hiding in the brush. Heart hammering in her chest, JJ reached for her gun, flipping the strap, fingers wrapping around the handle. Whatever it was, it wasn’t like the thing from before. There was no deep and heavy footfalls, the crunching of leaves, the breaking of branches. But, even with JJ’s limited senses of a human, she could feel the shift in the air around them. It seemed like the entire forest had gone quiet, even the wind had stopped blowing through the treetops.

Reid moved, standing shoulder to shoulder with JJ as he raised his gun, JJ doing the same. “It’s coming,” he whispered.

She stared hard into the forest. Even with the brightest of the moon, adrenaline pumping through her veins, her eyes couldn’t pierce through the inky blackness of the forest.

Then she saw something. A streak of white. Not on the forest floor, but up in the trees. It leapt from trunk to trunk, getting closer, it’s full body obscured by the darkness. It leapt again, just thirty yards away. A hand reached around the trunk, and JJ swallowed hard as she saw long, thin fingers with two-inch long nails and sharp as a razor. Slowly, it leaned around the trunk, revealing its face.

“Oh..” Reid said.

“Shit,” JJ finished.

 _Not’fu_.

It wasn’t an unknown word. Just Brownie slang for a very ancient and well known one - Nosferatu. A sub-species of vampire.

Like so many things thought to be extinct, JJ and Reid found themselves face to face with the cold hard reality.

They each stepped back, almost in unison, their footfalls barely making a sound. Its head whipped towards them, yellow eyes glowing under the pale light. It lifted its nose, nostrils flaring, then spread its mouth into a wide smile, revealing sharp, pointed teeth.

“Elf,” it hissed, raising its nose to the air again. And its smile seemed to widen as it licked its lips, eyes turning to JJ. “Human.”

Reid fired. Three quick, successive shots. It leapt to another tree, inhumanly fast. Reid fired again, JJ joining, their bullets missing as it continued jumping from tree to tree, getting closer. Then, it scurried upwards, disappearing in the foliage.

“Shit!” JJ gasped. “Where’d it go?”

Less than three feet away, it landed, as quiet and soft as a whisper. Up close, it was even more terrifying, over seven feet tall, a rail thin body, elongated limbs and harsh angles. It swung back a long arm, whipping it around and backhanding Reid with enough force to send the agent sailing head over heels into the bushes.

Instinctively, JJ opened fire. The creature’s screeching howl filled the air as it jerked backwards with each shot, holes opening up its chest. JJ kept firing, finger tapping repeatedly and just before she heard that unmistakable click of an empty magazine, the creature went down.

Frozen in place, unsure whether to check on Reid or make sure the creature was dead, all JJ could do was watch in horror as the wounds in the creature’s chest began to mend. The flesh crackled and oozed, the bullets popping wetly outwards from the healing flesh. The creature’s chest rose, sucking in a hard breath of air. Its eyes snapped open.

That’s when JJ ran.

In a dead sprint, JJ ran blindly into the forest, the biggest of disadvantages working against her, unknown terrain, the dead of night. She didn’t have to look behind her to know the creature was giving chase. She could feel it. A sense of dread in the air, the feeling of being prey to the predator.

She could hear it behind her. Close. Breathing hard and wetly through its still healing lungs.

“Huuummaannnn,” it rasped and JJ could swear she felt its breath on her neck.

She cut hard to her right. It landed hard on the ground, tumbling forward, missing JJ by inches. Its long nails taking a slash out of the back of JJ’s jacket. It howled in frustration before giving chase once more.

By accident or some part of her subconscious leading the way, JJ could see the remnants of the church before her. With a burst of speed, JJ leapt up the stone steps and crashed into the double wooden doors. Despite the ravages of time, they were strong, sturdy, they barely nudged open against JJ barreling into them.

JJ dared to look behind her. What little distance she’d put between herself and the creature was closing, and fast. She shoved hard against the door, pushing it open another inch, just enough to squeeze herself through. She found the abandoned barricade sitting on the floor, just inches away. As she slotted it into place, the creature slammed into the door on the other side. The impact so hard, it knocked JJ backwards. But, the doors held.

The creature smacked into the doors again, and again, and again, howling with fury every time the wooden barriers didn’t give in.

Suddenly, everything went quiet. JJ swallowed hard, eyes searching about for a place to hide, anything she could squeeze into that the creature couldn’t reach. In the dim light, she could see pews, an alter with a statue of some sort behind it. But nothing to indicate there was any more to the room than what JJ saw.

One of the windows exploded, the creature sailing into the church. It landed hard into the pews, wood cracking and splintering on impact.

JJ rolled onto all fours before leaping to her feet. She ran towards the altar, more to put space between her and the creature than any kind of plan. It lunged at her, claws swiping. JJ yelped as its nails cut through her clothing, raking across her back. It swiped again, fingers curling around JJ’s ankle. She flopped forward, kicking desperately with her free leg. As it rose, it flung her across the room, JJ smacking hard against a wall before slumping to the floor. Just like that, it was on her, long fingers instantly around JJ’s throat. It lifted, and squeezed, JJ kicking, digging her nails into its wrist.

It brought its face closer, nostrils flaring as it inhaled deeply. Then, it smiled, wide and wicked. “Human,” was all it said before it reared back its head, mouth opening wide as its teeth, all of them, seemed to extend.

Then, it howled, a howl not of triumph but one of pain. It snapped its head back up, eyes wide.

And JJ noticed the tiny arrow sticking out of its chest, the flesh crackling and burning where the silver tip had pierced deep into the skin. One arrow became two, then three, and JJ was able to turn her head just enough to see the Brownies, the little, fucking Brownies, coming to her rescue.

There was also Reid. He fired, bullet hitting the creature in the side. While the creature didn’t release its hold on JJ’s neck, it lowered its arm just enough for her to feel her feet hit the ground. Just enough to remind her of the Slayer’s blade still tucked in her boot.

The Brownies continued firing their arrows, as Reid cautiously, trying desperately not to hit JJ, fired several more shots. The creature bucked backwards, pulling, jerking JJ with it, unwilling to release her neck. JJ lifted her leg, scrambling to pull up the cuff of her jean.

It swung the two of them around, forcing the Brownies and Reid to stop firing as it used JJ as a shield. It yanked her towards it, yellow eyes staring hatefully.

“Human,” it hissed.

“Yeah,” JJ grit back. “Fuck you, too.”

She jammed the blade into its chest, it’s eyes instantly going wide as its flesh began to crackle and spit. JJ placed both hands around the hilt and jammed the blade in deeper, the creature’s eyes rolling into the back of its head as the strength left its legs and they both dropped to the floor, disappearing in the pews.

The room went quiet again.

“JJ?” Reid called out, breaking the silence.

“I’m fine,” she finally said, daring to rise to her feet, not once taking her eyes off the creature. “It’s dead.”

“But, you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I got scratched..” She reached around with her hand, fingers gently probing one of the slashes in her clothing. “I don’t think I’ll need stitches but a first-aid kit would be..”

The words cut off in her throat as a loud crack reverberated through the room. JJ’s eyes went wide as her knees buckled, no, not her knees, but the floor beneath her feet. The millenia old wood had suddenly sunk by two inches, too much time, too few repairs, the damage inflicted, the weight pressing down had become too much. In a second, it crackled, splintering apart.

And JJ screamed as she fell into the darkness suddenly beneath her, enveloping her whole.

**


	6. Chapter 6

“How..” Emily pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead, trying desperately to keep her head from exploding. “How the HELL is this possible?”

Each of them had re-read Reid’s text at least a hundred times. And, no matter how many times Emily read it, she couldn’t wrap her head around it. She now believed it was possible for the connection between a Sire and Companion to be severed without either one dying, at least, she’d *felt* that. But, the other side, a completely different universe, that was too much to swallow.

“I’m with Emily.” Morgan’s expression matched hers, sheer disbelief tinged with confusion. “This can’t be possible. Wasn’t the other side destroyed during the Rift?”

“Apparently, not,” Rossi chuckled mirthlessly.

“Guys!” Garcia shouted. “I found where the signal came from.” Immediately, they all swarmed around her, staring at her laptop. The image showed a street map shaded in purples and blues, the tiniest speck of white in the middle.

Hotch stared at the screen. “That’s the convenience store right across the street from our hotel.”

“In the middle of the friggin’ town?” Morgan gaped. “This makes no sense.”

“Except, it does.” Rossi lifted his eyes, turning towards each of them. “Let’s just go with the theory that the other world exists. All along, we’ve been assuming the magic taking the victims was intentional. What if it’s a natural occurrence? Little tears between the two worlds.”

“Rossi?” Hotch asked.

“Think about it. All through human history, mythology, legends, before the Rift, there are stories of supernatural beings on this world. What if it’s because of these tears?”

Morgan scoffed. “What? Now you’re saying Merlin was real?”

“All things considered, makes sense, doesn’t it? Just look at the victimlogy. There‘s no rhyme or reason to these attacks. More like victims of opportunity.”

Emily shook her head. “Fine. There are holes between the two universes. How do we get them back?”

“I don’t know,” was all Rossi could say.

“It gets worse.” Garcia continued typing as she talked. “I’ve been going back over the satellite images. From what I can tell, this all started about four months ago. The hole at the convenience store is the most consistent, like clockwork. The others? They’re stronger in the beginning but..” she stammered, looking up from her laptop. “They’re getting weaker.”

“What do you mean?” Hotch asked.

“She means..” Rossi answered for Garcia, closing his eyes and groaning. “We don’t have much time.”

Emily‘s darted from one to the other. “How much time?”

Garcia stopped typing, daring her eyes to meet Emily’s. “A day?”

**

JJ could hear Reid screaming her name. She felt pain everywhere, a heavy weight on her torso. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness. She’d landed on her back, her fall broken by something not exactly hard but not soft either. As she turned her head towards the sound of Reid’s voice, she could barely see the light from overhead, like a jagged puncture through a sheet of black.

She brought her hands to the weight holding her down, yelping in fright at the feel of the creature’s body on hers.

“JJ!” Reid shouted again. JJ could see the silhouette of his head at the edge of the hole in the floor.

“I’m okay,” she grunted, pushing the creature’s body off her. It was surprisingly light, easier to push off than she’d imagined. She gingerly rolled over onto her knees. The ground beneath her feet felt not so much like ground but paper. She’d landed on a pile of paper.

“Reid,” she called up to him. “Do you still have your flashlight?”

“Yeah.” He fished into his jacket, pulling out his standard penlight. He aimed the light down, the tiny beam unable to penetrate the thick darkness, nothing more than a speck of light from above. Then, he dropped it.

Taking a few shaky steps forward, JJ caught the flashlight in her hands. She pointed it towards the ground, body instinctively jolting at the sight of the creature, its dead yellow eyes still open, fangs still bared. She pointed it towards her feet. Just like she thought, she was standing on paper, reams of it, aged, torn, crumbled, like pages ripped from hundreds of books. Following the light, she found the edge of the pile and saw stone floor. JJ stepped onto the sturdier ground, then lifted her light higher.

“What do you see?” Reid asked.

“It’s..” JJ paused as she pointed the light about. “I think it’s a library.” She pointed the light back upwards. “And don’t you dare come down here,” she chuckled.

“Can you find a way out?”

“I don’t know,” JJ answered.

Despite the tall ceiling, the room was small by comparison, no more than twenty feet long and just as high. A lone desk sat amongst the ruined remnants of two others. It was stacked with dusty volumes, scrolls, a quill made of bone, a skull used for an inkwell. All four walls were bookshelves, going all the way up to the ceiling. Barely any books remained, the odd volume on a random shelf, as if the library was in the process of being cleared out before the church was abandoned. It made sense, JJ thought, a vampire library in werewolf territory. When the war came, the vampires made sure to take what was necessary.

She ran her fingers over the spine of one of the last books remaining on one of the shelves. Two feet tall, the cover made of what JJ hoped was leather, ancient vampire text on the spine.

“JJ?” Reid called down to her. “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“Really?” she muttered under her breath. “Figures.”

“I asked the Brownies to get some rope. And what they have isn’t strong or long enough to bring you back up.”

JJ ran her light around all four walls. They were all covered with bookshelves. There was no door. How the vampires got into and out of the room. “I can’t find the door.”

“I think..” Reid paused, eyes scanning about the edges of the hole in the floor. “I think this was the door. Do you see a ladder?”

JJ shook her head. “No.”

To the Brownies, Reid began speaking Elven, his words indistinguishable from the chatter of the Brownies. “JJ, I have an idea. The Brownies are going to go through the Giving Tree, see if they can find some rope on the other side.”

“How long is that going to take?”

Reid interpreted the question and, even with the distance and darkness between them, JJ could see him deflate just a little. “An hour after sunset.”

**

Emily wanted to burn. That’s what her people did when the sun rose, they burned, each and every one of them, except, Emily. She stood at the edge of a clearing amongst the trees with her eyes closed, facing the rising sun, as she imagined what it would feel like. The boiling of blood, the burning of muscles, the crackling of skin, before it all turned to dust. If she burned, it wouldn’t hurt anymore. Emily was so tired of hurting.

“Prentiss.”

She ignored Morgan’s voice, his worried and paternalistic voice. Instead, she twisted her hands, palms facing outwards, feeling the warming rays.

“Prentiss.” He was standing at her shoulder now, barely a foot behind her. Emily could feel his apprehension, the inner turmoil as he questioned whether or not to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Emily inhaled deeply as the morning sun dimmed behind a bank of clouds. There would be no burning today. “I’m going to lose her,” she sighed. “I don’t even have her, not really, and I’m going to lose her.”

This time, Morgan did put his hand on Emily’s shoulder. “Emily..”

“I know. I should have hope. Faith. I’ve never been good at those. I’m a Prentiss. We don’t *do* hope and faith. We do control. And I’m..” She opened her eyes to look down at her hands as she curled them into fists. “I’m losing that, too.”

Morgan shifted, stepping behind Emily as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, placing a gentle kiss to the side of her head. “I won’t let you fall.”

Emily leaned back, letting Morgan take some of her weight. Her partner. Her best friend. He’d carry the world for her, but there was only so much of her burden she was willing to give him. “You won’t be able to save me, Derek.” She placed her hand onto his forearm, gently squeezing. “Not if I lose her.”

Morgan slid his arms just a little tighter. Emily didn’t have to say the words for Morgan to understand the meaning. She was planning to embrace the darkness, to give up control. If she did that, even her human side wouldn’t be able to save her.

“I won’t let you fall,” he whispered again. “You need hope, faith? Take mine. Take all of ours. Ask us and we’ll turn this world upside down looking for another way. Just.. don’t give up on her. Don’t give up on yourself.”

Emily wanted to believe. She wanted it to be that easy. But, how could she explain the gaping hole in her chest, the piece of herself she never knew was missing until she’d found it. Emily didn’t just want JJ in her life, she needed her. And, with every second Emily felt the silence in her soul, the idea that she would have to live without her was becoming too much to bear.

“I’ll try, Derek.” The lie fell easily from her lips. It was in his nature to protect the ones he loved. To protect the ones she loved, it was in Emily‘s nature to lie. After all, she was a Prentiss. “I promise.”

He loosened his hold, sliding his arms back as he stepped away. “There’s fresh coffee,” he said, trying to make things better, trying to return things as close to normal. “You want some?”

“I’ll be there in a sec. I just..” she inhaled, closing her eyes once more. “Wanna feel the sunrise.”

“Okay.”

He’d barely walked five feet when Emily felt her chest seize, the strength sapping from her legs as she fell to her knees. She didn’t believe in hope, she didn’t have faith. And, yet, there it was, squeezing her lungs, freezing her heart..

Filling that hole.

“Emily?” Morgan asked, instantly back at her side.

When her eyes snapped open, they were pitch black. Emily parted her lips, showing fully extended fangs.

“Emily,” Morgan said again. “Is it..”

“JJ,” was all Emily said.

Then Morgan watched as Emily took off like a bullet fired from a gun.

**

JJ sat at the lone table still standing, leafing through the stacks of books written in a language she couldn’t read. Going through the books had been something to do to keep her mind off her current predicament. Occasionally, she would hear Reid walking about above, or talking to the Brownies, his voice muffled and distant. Reid had come up with a plan to send another text message through the Giving Tree, just in case there was no rope available. A thought JJ tried very hard not to dwell on. Mostly, as she wandered about the library, there was nothing but silence. Which just seemed to make everything worse.

She thought about trying to get some sleep. But every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was the dead creature lying in the center of the room, the irrational fear that it wasn’t really dead keeping her eyes wide open. So, she paced, or she looked at books and tried not to scream.

“Reid?” JJ called out, slamming the book before her closed, waving the dust cloud away with a hand.

His head appeared above, hair hanging down. “JJ? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just..” she paused, tucking her hair behind her ears with both hands. “Would you talk to me?” she asked, feeling childish and small, like she had in those months after she escaped Gary Burnsley. When her parents would take shifts, sleeping in her room to keep the imaginary monsters at bay.

“Okay? What do you want me to talk about?”

“I don’t know. Anything?”

“Anything?” he asked back, a gentle warning that he was capable of rattling off on any subject.

“Yes, Reid,” JJ chuckled. “Anything. I’m just.. tired of the dark and the quiet and would really like to hear someone else’s voice right now.”

“Okay,” he paused, long enough for JJ to get uneasy, wondering if they were in danger again. “Can I ask you a question?” he finally spoke.

This time, it was JJ’s turn to pause and go silent. “You want to know about Emily and I?”

“If that’s okay.”

It surprised JJ but didn’t, Reid being the last to ask about her relationship with Emily. As her Superior, Hotch had been there from the beginning, acting more as a guiding force than her boss. Garcia was another matter entirely, who also acted as the voice for Morgan. Even Rossi had asked in his own way. “Yes, Reid,” she finally answered. “It’s okay.”

“Why haven’t you performed the blood-bond ceremony?”

“Oh.” JJ lifted her eyebrows. Of all of them, it figured Reid would cut right to the heart of the matter. “I don’t know. Fear?” she answered as simplistically as possible, hoping that would be enough.

“You know she can’t compel you, right?”

“Yes, I know.” JJ placed her elbow on the table, chin resting on her palm. “It’s only been four months. Before Will.. Let’s just say it’s been a very long time since I’ve been in a long-term relationship. The blood-bond? That’s for life, you know. I can’t even commit to a pet. It took me a month to return Will’s call for our first date. Had my parents not been present, who knows how long it would have taken me to answer his proposal.”

Reid went quiet, processing her words, appreciative of her candor. “You know Emily’s in love with you,” he finally said. “I know I‘m not the most socially aware of people but even I‘m not that obtuse.”

JJ lifted her head, eyes pointing towards the Reid shaped silhouette, surprised at his candor. “Reid, why are you asking me this?”

“Something I heard Emily say. I overheard her talking to Hotch. If either one knew I was standing there I doubt she would have been so open. She described you as perfect.”

For once, JJ was happy for the darkness. This way, Reid couldn’t see the sudden blush creeping onto her cheeks, or how she desperately fought the smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“Did you know..” Reid continued, oblivious to JJ’s change, or her sudden interest in what Reid had to say about Emily’s feelings for JJ, “Less than 20 percent of all humans are genetically compatible to become a Companion? Even then, when you consider all the factors - age, health, mental stability - the odds of complete compatibility decrease to a factor of one in twelve, especially when you take into consideration the changes made to the Selection process..”

“What do you mean?” JJ asked. “I thought the vampires used magic?”

“Oh. You don’t know? Of course,” he muttered under his breath before raising his voice. “This is kind of confidential. Actually, it’s *really* confidential, even I didn’t know until about three years ago. The spells the vampires use works, but it’s still not completely accurate. They found a process that removes a lot of the errors when strictly using magic. I actually found out by accident, I was working on a thesis...”

“Reid!”

“Blood,” he quickly fired, snapped from going off on another tangent. “Inoculations, actually. I‘m not exactly sure which test it is specifically, but every child takes it. And the samples are sent to the vampires for when the child reaches adulthood.”

“How is that even legal?”

“It was all part of the treaty renegotiations fifty years ago. And, as someone who’s ancestors waged a war with the vampires that lasted for half a millenia, I’d say it’s better than the alternative.”

JJ shook her head. If ignorance was bliss, and when it came to vampires, JJ wished she were ignorant. The more she learned, the more she wished she could wipe those memories away. Like most children, JJ had gone through a series of inoculations since birth. To think her blood was sitting somewhere in a vault..

“Wait!” She lifted her head to the ceiling. “You said the blood is tested when a human child reaches adulthood. I was eighteen, well, awhile ago. Shouldn’t they have known I was compatible then?”

“Except, Emily already had a Companion when you were eighteen.”

“Yeah, but she’s had other Companions since then. Several. Why wait until now?”

“I..” Reid stammered, like he hadn’t really pondered that part of the equation. “I don’t know.”

They both descended into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. JJ, looking to distract herself, picked up another volume. Her brows furrowed as she opened the cover. This book was different than the others she’d leafed through. The first one she’d found with illustrations. Every couple pages, there’d be a full page illustration of an individual. From what JJ could tell, she was looking at an historical family record, members of the Royal Family.

“JJ?” Reid called out to her, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you another question?”

Chuckling softly, JJ merely shook her head, as if she could stop Reid from asking questions. “Sure.”

“Are you in love with Emily?”

“I..” JJ lifted her head, eyes staring blankly into the darkness. “Since this all started, since I drank her blood, she’s been inside me. Even when we’re not around each other, I can feel her near. It scares me. How much I *like* having her near. But, I don’t know if that’s me or her blood running through my veins. And then we came over her and I couldn’t feel that connection anymore. I.. I miss her.” JJ stopped, eyes going wide at the sudden realization - it wasn’t Emily that made JJ feel the way she did. She chuckled at the thought. Then, just as quickly, slowly rolled her eyes as she openly groaned at the thought. It‘d been there since the beginning, that thing JJ didn‘t want to admit. An attraction. Again. All she could do, at the moment, was turn the page before her.

And JJ found herself blinking her eyes, as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge. “Oh.. my God.”

“JJ? What is it?”

“You are not going to believe this. It’s..” The words froze in her throat as her chest seized, as a cool warmth rushed through her.

“JJ!” Reid yelled frantically. “Talk to me.”

“It’s..” JJ gasped as the air rushed into her lungs. She pushed herself from the table, jerking up to her feet. She ran directly under the hole, staring up towards Reid. “It’s Emily. She’s here, Reid. She’s on this side!”

**

“EMILY!!”

At the sound of Morgan’s voice, instantly, Hotch lifted his head to see Emily, nothing but a blur of black, running like a bat out of hell and straight into the forest. Hotch didn’t pause, didn’t stay to ask questions. He had duties, responsibilities. He had an agent, half out of her mind with grief, running directly into danger. There was only one thing Hotch could do.

With eyes turning yellow, he chased after her.

**

Emily gave a warning growl, low in her throat, almost feral in its intensity. She could more than hear Hotch behind her, she could feel him. But, none of that mattered, Emily could feel JJ. That’s what mattered. And she was faster, she was always faster than Hotch.

As long as he remained on two feet.

Then, she heard it. She dared to look behind her, to see how close Hotch really was. Hotch hadn’t shifted, not entirely, just enough to extend his fingers into claws, dig his hands into the dirt as he ran on all fours. He growled back at her as their eyes made contact. His eyes had turned completely yellow, his anger boiling over into rage, the man giving in to the wolf, the predator finally having the chance to chase after prey. He wouldn’t hurt her, in her heart of hearts, Emily knew that. She just had no idea how much damage Hotch would do before he got himself under control.

She cut a hard left, hoping to throw him off, give her a little more lead. Instead, Hotch anticipated her move. He leapt, crashing into her like a car t-boning another. The impact tossed them both into the air, bodies spinning in opposite directions. They both hit the ground. Hard. And were instantly on their feet, facing off against the other.

“Hotch,” Emily growled. “Don’t you dare try..”

In an instant, Emily found herself staring down the barrel of Hotch’s gun. Before she could even blink, Hotch pulled the trigger. Emily could feel the heat of it singing her cheek as the bullet whizzed past. Something behind her, something big and heavy, hit the ground.

Shocked, Emily turned to look behind her. It was a wild boar, but like no boar either had ever seen, big as a cow, two sets of tusks, razor sharp teeth. It’s chest heaved, exhaling one final death rattle.

That’s when it hit Emily. She was on the other side. Her eyes darted about, noticing all the things she’d missed - the color of the trees, the sky, the dimness of the sun.

JJ.

“Prentiss..” Hotch barely managed to say before Emily was off and running again. He growled, more to himself than as any kind of warning to Emily, before giving chase once again.

“Don’t try and stop me, Hotch!” Emily called back to him.

“Dammit, Prentiss,” he huffed. “I’m not!”

That was enough to get Emily to slow, not a lot, just enough until the two were running side by side. “What?”

“I’m just trying to keep you from getting yourself killed.”

This time, Emily did stop. They’d covered almost five miles, neither one had barely broken a sweat. She turned towards him, brows crinkling in confusion. “Sir?”

“Prentiss,” he paused, placing his hands on his hips. His features softened, some of the yellow in his eyes turning back to hazel. “I understand. I wish you hadn’t gone off half-cocked like you did. But, I’m not trying to stop you. I want to help..”

He stopped at the quarter-sized rock striking him against the temple. Fingers rubbing the stinging wound on his forehead, he gaped at Emily. “Did you just throw a rock at me?”

Just before Emily could answer, another rock sailed through the air, striking Hotch against the shoulder. Emily caught it on the rebound. “This isn’t a rock,” she looked to Hotch, holding it in the palm of her hand. “It’s silver.”

Something else whistled through the air, inches from striking Hotch in the chest, Emily snatched her hand out, stopping it in place. They both stared, befuddled, at the silver tipped arrow in Emily’s hand.

Suddenly, more rocks appeared, pelting them both. Hotch’s eyes turned back to yellow, as he quickly withdrew his gun, aiming at the tree line, Emily following suit. They could see the bushes moving, the sounds of indecipherable chatter behind the leaves. Another arrow hissed through the air, hitting Hotch in the forearm. Instinctually, Hotch and Emily both placed their fingers on their triggers, they began to squeeze.

“WAIT!” a voice screamed. The assault of rocks and arrows slowed, but didn’t stop. “STOP! DON’T SHOOT!”

“Reid?” Hotch called out at the sound of the man’s voice.

“Don’t shoot!” Reid barreled through the foliage, practically stumbling as he tried to stop and the inertia carried him forward. He ran towards Hotch and Emily, turning his back to them as faced the forest, raising his hands defensively and the rain of arrows and rocks finally ceased.

“ _Stop!_ ” he called out in his own language. “ _Friends. These are my friends!_ ”

The commotion in the forest quieted. One by one, the Brownies emerged. Both Hotch and Emily blinking in surprise, the werewolf and the vampire having almost been taken down by the pint-sized Fairies. Reid turned back around, the widest smile on his face. He looked no worse for wear, other than the longbow he held in one hand, the strap to the quiver crossing over his chest.

“Hey, guys,” he grinned.

“What’s with the bow?” Hotch asked.

“Oh.” Reid lifted his eyebrows, holding it up to eye level. “The Brownies gave it to me. It used to be..”

“Reid.” Emily shook her head, amazed at how quickly the man’s mind could switch on a dime. “Where’s JJ?”

“JJ, she’s..”

“Never mind,” Emily quickly snapped, already breaking into a fast trot as the Brownies parted before her. “I’ll find her myself.”

**

“Reid!” JJ whispered harshly. It’d been an hour since she’d felt Emily’s presence, and just as long since Reid had left to try and find her.

And JJ was left alone in the dark and the quiet.

The minutes had ticked by excruciatingly slowly, JJ constantly checking her watch then lifting her head up to the space where she last saw Reid, only to be met by more silence. The sun was coming up, which was good. But sunlight on this side was different, dimmer, which was bad. With the tall trees surrounding the church, the few beams of light that did pass through the windows were barely enough to distinguish between night and day. It didn’t help that the battery to Reid’s flashlight was dying.

She checked her watch again, the dial telling her it had been a mere thirty seconds since the last time she’d checked. Then, she lifted her eyes to the ceiling once more, searching, hoping for some sign.

A loud bang reverberated through the church, loud enough to make JJ jump, the hairs to stand on the back of her neck as she leaned down, pulling up the cuff of her jean as she reached for the Slayer’s blade. The sound of wood splintering, finally breaking followed the bang then footsteps.

JJ clicked off her flashlight, quietly stepping backwards into the inky blackness.

The steps moved closer, closer towards the hole in the floor. A shape poked its way over the edge, peering down. A shape that didn’t look anything like Reid.

“JJ?” Emily called out.

Heart suddenly in her throat, JJ rushed towards the center of the room. “Emily?”

“JJ!” Emily practically shrieked with joy. Then she paused, head tilting curiously. “What the.. What the fuck are you doing down there?”

“I fell trying to get away..” JJ paused, remembering she wasn’t exactly alone down in the library, pointing with her head towards the corpse on the floor. “From that thing.”

“Are you..” Emily paused as the scent hit her nose. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a couple scratches.”

“Stand back,” Emily said.

“What?”

JJ barely had time to react as Emily pushed herself with her hands, body moving over the edge and gravity took over. Like a cat, Emily twisted in the air, landing on her feet in a low crouch. JJ had fallen through the same hole and almost broken her back, Emily fell and made it look like the simplest of acrobatics.

Emily rose, just as quickly, she rushed forward, clasping JJ’s face with her hands, crashing their lips together. The kiss hard, bruising, Emily whimpering into JJ’s mouth, at the touch, the lips she thought she’d never feel again. When she pulled them apart, she brought her arms around JJ’s shoulders, pulling the woman tight against her.

“I thought you were dead,” Emily murmured into JJ’s neck. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m fine, Emily,” JJ sighed back.

“No, you’re not,” Emily pulled back, her face barely visible in the dim light. “You’re hurt.”

“Like I said, they’re just a couple of..”

Suddenly, Emily’s forearm was pressed to JJ’s lips, the coppery taste instantly filling JJ’s mouth. She hadn’t even seen Emily bite into her own arm, but then, JJ couldn’t really see in the dark. A part of her wanted to protest, to refuse, then she felt Emily’s blood on her lips, body shuddering at not just the taste, but the way it made her feel. Like she could already feel the wounds on her back healing, her eyes adjusting to the darkness, the dark corners brightening like a dimmer switch slowly turned on, her ears hearing the things she couldn’t before.

“Emily? JJ?” Hotch’s voice called out from up above.

“Down here,” Emily answered, removing her forearm from JJ’s mouth and licking the tiny puncture wounds to heal.

“You guys all right?” Hotch’s face appeared at the edge, along with Reid’s and half a dozen Brownies.

“Never better.” JJ lowered her eyes towards Emily, lips pulling into a small grin. She looked back up towards Hotch. “You wouldn‘t happen to have some rope with you?”

“No,” he answered.

“Wait,” Emily said quickly. “I have an idea.”

She released her hold on JJ’s arm, face twisting like the very act caused her great physical pain. She darted towards the desk, circling around to the far side. With one hand, she quickly swept all the books and papers onto the floor. Then, she began to push, the legs screaming in protest as they scraped across the stone floor. Emily pushed the desk towards the center of the room, directly under the hole in the ceiling. Emily clambered onto the table, extending her hand to JJ.

“You can’t be serious?” JJ said, warily looking upwards.

“Do you trust me?” Emily asked, hand still extended.

JJ lowered her eyes to the hand extended towards her, then found Emily’s face in the dim light. “With my life,” she said softly.

Then, she gripped Emily by the forearm, allowing the taller woman to pull her up onto the table. Once they were toe to toe again, JJ leaned forward, bringing her lips to Emily’s.

“Hotch,” Emily said as she lowered into a crouch, threading her fingers together, creating a cradle with her hands. “I’m sending JJ up.”

“Oh God,” JJ groaned as she placed a hand on Emily’s shoulder, setting her foot solidly in the center of Emily’s hands. “That’s, at least, fifteen feet.”

“More like twenty,” Emily corrected. “I’m surprised you didn’t break your back.”

“I think I can thank you for that, at least, your blood.”

“Nah, you’re just tougher than you look,” Emily grinned back. “You ready?”

JJ inhaled deeply, bracing herself before she nodded. Not bothering to count, Emily pushed herself up, lifting with both legs and arms. Instantly, JJ shot upwards, the hole above her growing larger and larger as she got closer, Reid and Hotch’s faces becoming clearer. She extended her arms upwards. Emily used just a little too much force, JJ’s entire body clearing the hole, taking both Hotch and Reid off guard, the two men scrambling to their feet before gravity took hold and JJ went sailing back down again.

They all reached together, JJ reaching out, Hotch and Reid grabbing her arms and pulling her to safety. JJ didn’t wait for an invitation, quickly drawing her arms around Hotch’s shoulders and pulling him in for a big hug.

“Glad to see you, Sir?” she smiled, taking a step back.

“Like wise,” he smiled back. “Glad you’re in one piece.”

She turned, doing the same with Reid, who eagerly accepted her embrace.

“That was,” Reid paused, scrunching his eyebrows. “Surprisingly easy.”

“One of the benefits of having a vampire for a girlfriend, I guess.”

He narrowed his eyes, head angling slightly. “Did you just call Emily your girlfriend? Hey, Emily..”

“I heard!” she called back up with the widest, brightest smile on her face. “Now, would you guys quit with the lovey-dovey and help get me out of here?”

That was enough to get a chuckle from Hotch. He waved his hand, motioning for Reid and JJ to step back. “Ready,” he called down to Emily.

His back to JJ and Reid, they didn’t see the half-grin pulling at his lips. Emily jumped, shooting straight upwards. As with JJ, she’d over compensated, sailing higher than really necessary. Instead of catching her, Hotch merely smiled and watched as Emily hit that moment of weightlessness, where inertia ended and gravity had yet to take over and she floated in the air. Then, she began to fall back down, eyes widening with shock as her arms wind-milled, looking for purchase and finding nothing but air.

“Hotch!” JJ gasped, Reid pushing himself forward.

Emily fell back down. Just as her shoulders leveled with the floor, Hotch reached down, snatching her by the jacket at the back of her neck. He lifted, easily, effortlessly, Emily hovering over the hole in the floor while Hotch held her like, well, like a wolf holding a discontented pup.

“You know,” he said, eyes narrowing. “I should drop you.”

Emily’s jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t?”

“I wouldn’t,” he chuckled back. “I *should*, but I won‘t.”

Emily grasped the arm holding her in space as Hotch moved her towards more solid ground. Feet touching the floor, Emily grumbled, “Not funny.”

“I thought it was funny,” Hotch shrugged.

JJ reached out, wrapping her hand around Emily’s, thumb gently grazing over the knuckles. Wanting to remake that connection, like, now that she had it back, she never wanted to let go. “Sir,” she spoke to Hotch. “Can we please get out of here?”

Hotch nodded, facing turning serious. “We need to hurry. The tear between the two worlds is closing. And we don’t have much time.”

“How much time?” JJ asked.

“I don’t know.” Hotch began moving towards the entrance to the church, Emily and JJ quick to follow.

“Wait!” Reid called out to them. He looked down at the bow in his hand, fingers tightening. “I can’t leave. Not yet. Not without saying goodbye to the Brownies.”

Hotch growled low, under his breath. “Reid..”

“He’s right, Sir,” JJ quickly cut in. She looked to Reid, at the several Brownies standing around him. “If it wasn’t for them. I don’t think either one of us would have made it. You wouldn’t have found us.”

Hotch turned his eyes towards Emily, looking for backup. Emily shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. Hotch was on his own. “Fine,” he sighed, pressing his fingers to his forehead. “But we need to make this quick.”

**


	7. Chapter 7

JJ didn’t think saying goodbye would be so hard. Particularly with the little ones, who looked up at her with their big eyes filling with tears, tiny lips quivering. While this wasn’t their true home, they’d been chased away from their territory, taking the entire tribe to the other side wasn’t the answer either. Both Reid and the elder agreed, no matter how heartbroken Reid looked when he came to the conclusion.

Hotch and Emily stood on the perimeter of the village, Hotch with his arms folded across his chest, Emily behind him, pacing back and forth, agitated, not because of the sudden time limitation but more because of the distance between Emily and JJ.

The Brownie warriors stood guard between Hotch, Emily and the rest of the tribe, with their tiny bows and axes. They may have been Reid’s friend, but the Brownies still didn’t trust the werewolf and the vampire.

Reid rose to his full height, JJ following as he walked over towards Emily and Hotch.

“I..” Reid stammered, licking his lips while his hand surreptitiously gripped the strap to his quiver. “I can’t leave.”

“What?” Emily spoke first.

“The Nosferatu,” Reid explained. “The one JJ killed. It’s not the only one. If we leave..”

“Reid,” Hotch spoke softly. “We have to go. There’s nothing more we can do. They don’t belong in our world any more than you belong in theirs.”

“But..” Reid looked down at the bow in his hand. “If I leave, who will protect them?”

“From the looks of it,” Hotch pointed his eyes towards the Brownie warriors standing feet behind Reid. “They can take care of themselves.”

“They’re refugees,” Reid explained, imploring. “They don’t belong here. They belong in the forest. As long as those things are out there, they‘ll never be safe. They‘ll never be free.”

Hotch closed his eyes, craning back his neck in exasperation. The goal had been to bring *back* his agents, because that’s what Hotch thought of the members of his team - his. Leaving someone behind had never been part of the plan. Now, here was Reid, asking for permission to do just that. Hotch’s permission. “Reid..”

“Hotch,” Emily cut in. “Let him stay.” Emily waited, Hotch practically snapping his eyes open then glaring at her. “It’s Reid’s decision. Just like me coming over here was my mine. Don’t take that from him.”

Hotch inhaled, long and deep, muscles in his cheekbones flexing as he ground his teeth. But, he relented. He’d lost agents before. At least, this time, he could say goodbye first. He stepped towards Reid, placing both his hands on Reid’s shoulders. “Are you sure about this?”

“No,” Reid admitted sheepishly. “But I can’t, in good conscious, leave them here defenseless. Besides, if I make it back someday, I‘ll have some killer material for a new thesis.”

“You’re a good man, Spencer Reid.” Hotch chuckled. He then placed his hands on the back of Reid’s neck, bringing their foreheads together. “I won’t stop finding a way to bring you back. You know that, right?”

Reid placed a hand onto Hotch’s wrist. “I know. If Morgan or Garcia don’t kill you first.”

Hotch grinned softly, stepping back to allow Emily and JJ to say their goodbyes. Emily approached first, draping her arms around Reid’s shoulders as she pulled him in, kissing his cheek. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m not going to miss having you beat me at chess..”

“Or poker,” Emily quickly added.

“Or poker.”

Emily squeezed a little tighter, as her chest started to squeeze, the salt began stinging the corners of her eyes. She kissed his cheek again. “Thank you for protecting her,” she whispered gently. “I’ll always owe you for that.”

“Just for the record,” Reid brought his lips to Emily’s ear, whispering so only she could hear, “I think she’s in love with you.”

Emily swallowed hard, finding that last bit of resolve to relax her arms and let Reid go. She stepped back, wiping an eye with the back of her hand as it was, finally, JJ’s turn, her eyes already filled with tears.

“I think,” Reid smiled, closing his eyes as he held JJ tight. “I’ll miss you most of all. Just don’t tell Garcia I said that.”

“I won’t,” JJ choked back her sob just enough to chuckle.

“Take care of them, JJ. Take care of her.”

JJ leaned back just enough to kiss Reid on the cheek. “I will.”

**

The clouds came, along with it came the rain, hard and driving. They ran in silence, Emily and Hotch keeping their pace slow enough for JJ to keep up. It took an hour, but they made it to the place where the campgrounds on the other side would be.

JJ practically crumbled, leaning over to place her hands on her knees, gasping for air. “What now?” she panted.

Hotch looked around, searching for something, anything. “I don’t know.”

Emily stepped towards JJ, placing her hand on the small of JJ’s back, making small circles. “How will we know when the hole between our worlds is open?”

Hotch pursed his lips, eyes still searching. “The Nosferatu figured out a way. A scent. A sound. We’ll just have to wait.”

There was the thought of asking how long, but Emily already knew the answer. For all they knew, they’d missed their window of opportunity and were stuck on this side along with Reid. At least Emily had JJ. Hotch? His son was on the other side, and Emily started to feel the guilt pressing down on her at the idea that she was the cause of their separation. “They’ll find a way,” she said, offering comfort even if it felt hollow.

Having finally caught her breath, JJ rose to her full height, Emily’s hand still on the small of her back. Despite the circumstances, the possibility they might be trapped here, JJ caught the slightest hint of a smile on Emily’s lips. JJ narrowed her eyes as she turned her head towards Emily.

“What?” Emily blinked at her.

“You’re smiling,” JJ said with her own bemused grin.

“Oh.” Emily lowered her head, desperately fighting the pull at the corners of her mouth. She lifted her eyes, gazing up at JJ through a half-squint. “Did you mean it? Back there? When you called me your girlfriend?”

“Seriously?” JJ playfully rolled her eyes. “I’m cold. I’m wet. I’m sore in places I didn’t realize I had muscles. We might be trapped in another universe and *that’s* what you want to talk about?”

“Well..” Emily lifted her head, surreptitiously licking her lips as her eyes drifted down to JJ’s mouth. “I’d offer to warm you up but that might be kind of awkward with him standing over there.”

“You’re incorrigible. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, well,” Emily leaned in, bringing her lips to the shell of JJ’s ear. “You’re kind of beautiful.”

It seemed the wrong place, the wrong time, but JJ wanted nothing more than to kiss Emily at that very moment. And, as Emily drew her head back from JJ’s ear, JJ found her own eyes gazing at Emily’s lips, Emily doing the same as the two of them slowly closed the tiny distance between them.

“JJ.”

At the sound of Hotch’s voice, both women practically jumped out of their skins, each taking a step back and out of the other’s space.

“Sir?” JJ swallowed.

Hotch approached, unsnapping the holster to his gun. He slid it out, handing it to JJ. “Here, take this.”

The moment the gun met JJ’s palm, Hotch began peeling out of his fleece jacket, simultaneously kicking off his shoes.

“Sir?” Emily swallowed, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge. “What’s going on?”

His shirt removed, Hotch began working on the belt around his jeans. “They’re coming.”

“Shit.” Instantly, Emily stepped back, turning towards the forest as she brought her hand to her own gun. She lifted her head slightly, nose twitching as she sniffed the air. “How many?”

“Can’t tell. JJ, get behind us,” he said, walking until he and Emily were shoulder to shoulder. “Make your shots count. Those are the only bullets you have.”

Hotch knelt down, head lowering. JJ could only watch in amazement as he transformed, as his bones jutted and popped, fur sliding out of pores, fingers extending into claws. The transformation complete, Hotch rose. But he wasn’t the Hotch JJ remembered. This Hotch was someone, some _thing_ she’d never seen before. Over seven feet in height, fur as dark as midnight, razor sharp claws, teeth even sharper. There was always an intensity to Hotch, but it was always in check, tightly contained. In his true form, there was nothing holding it back. The power radiated off him. Terrifying and beautiful.

Snout lifting into the air, he sniffed then lowered into a crouch, every muscle in his body tensing as he let out a growl, loud and warning, inhuman. The sound alone was enough to send a hard shiver down JJ’s spine.

They could see them now, the Nosferatu. Between the rain, the darkness of the trees, they were streaks of white in the treetops. They. Not just one or two, a dozen, at least, leaping from tree to tree.

“ _Huuuummmaaaannnn_ ,” they called out, almost in symphony.

“Shit,” Emily grit, hand tightening around her gun as her eyes misted to black and her fangs extended. “They’re coming for JJ.”

Hotch roared, charging forward. He leapt into the air, soaring as the lead Nosferatu jumped down. They collided in the air, the impact strong enough to create a concussion wave large enough to sway the heavy branches on the trees.

Hotch had the advantage. It’d been over a century since the werewolves roamed these woods. They hit the ground. Hotch sank his teeth into the creatures neck, then ripped it out, killing it instantly. Just as quickly as the advantage was there, it was gone. Three of them pounced on Hotch, snarling, slashing with their claws. Hotch yelped as the first fingers sliced through his skin.

And the first bullets began to pierce the air. Both women fired at once, firing into the pile of flesh crawling all over Hotch. They flinched, bucked, bodies blown back by the impact, giving Hotch just enough room to get back on his feet.

“Shit!” Emily growled. “They’re not going down!”

They weren’t. The thing that would have killed them instantly, silver bullets, had been illegal for almost thirty years. The bullets slowed, did damage, but the wounds healed almost as quickly as they appeared.

Still firing her gun, Emily took a step backwards, stepping closer to JJ. “Run!”

“What?” JJ spoke through clenched teeth, between the pulling of her trigger finger. “I am not..” BANG! “Leaving you..” BANG!BANG!! “Behind!”

Click.

The sound hadn’t come from JJ’s gun, but it still made her heart sink with dread. Emily was out of ammo. And JJ wasn’t far behind. Emily turned to JJ. Grabbing a fistful of JJ’s jacket, she yanked JJ’s face towards hers. “I SAID RUN!!”

JJ bolted. Emily leapt towards the closest creature charging after JJ. She caught it by the ankles, scrambling up its back as it clawed and scrambled to its feet, before it could turn or buck Emily off and sink its claws into her flesh. It was strong, God, it was strong, this genetic cousin of Emily’s. But, it didn’t have what Emily had - rage and fear and hatred, the ability to channel those emotions into a sheer need to protect those that she loved. She brought one hand to its forehead, placed the other at the back of its head, with all her strength, everything she had, Emily yanked her arms. Its neck twisted, then broke with a sickening crunch.

Before it slumped to the ground, another one slammed full force into Emily. She landed hard on her back. Then screamed as she felt its claws piercing into her shoulder, right before it lifted her and flung her hard against a tree.

It charged. Emily scrambled just in time as it smacked hard into the space Emily used to fill, head thunking into the trunk. Emily reached. While she had no claws, her hands were strong enough. She sunk her fingers into the exposed, soft flesh of its neck, ripping its throat out. Its eyes went wide with shock as it jolted to its feet, stumbling backwards.

Another flash of white. But Emily was ready this time. She braced herself as it barreled into her, linebacker style. As they sailed upwards, another creature leapt into the both of them, crushing Emily between them. She screamed again at the sudden crunch of her own ribs breaking. The air leaving her lungs as she crashed hard onto the ground. She brought her forearms over her head, knees to her stomach to protect herself as they hovered over her, slashing with their claws, as she felt the stings of her own flesh being sliced open, the air pungent with the scent of her own blood.

One of them grabbed Emily by the ankle, yanking hard, trying to pull her legs down to expose her stomach, so it could deliver the killing blow.

Another growl, low and throaty. Both creatures looked up. The first just disappeared from Emily’s sight, knocked into the trees by Hotch’s hard, swinging backhand. The other jumped backwards into a low crouch, exposing its long teeth as it snarled and hissed. And Hotch howled, right before he leapt.

**

JJ ran. She hated herself for doing it, leaving Hotch and Emily behind. But, Emily had said run and that’s what JJ did. She ran. She ran blindly into the forest, branches stinging her face, eyes blinded by the rain pelting her. She had, maybe, five, six shots left.

And JJ knew they wouldn’t be enough.

She could feel them behind her, leaping from tree to tree, getting closer. Something caught at her back, and JJ no longer felt ground beneath her feet, arms wind milling as she suddenly sailed head over feet through the air.

Hitting the ground hard, the air rushed from her lungs, blackness filling the corners of her eyes. She rolled onto her back, pulling up her gun as one of the creatures rushed towards her. Squeezing the trigger, JJ fired, shot after shot after shot. The creature jerked and jolted, slowing but not stopping. JJ fired again until that awful click filled the air.

Sensing that its prey was finally cornered, the creature stopped, rising to its full height, gloating. The other two stopped feet behind it, staring hungrily at JJ, saliva dripping from their open mouths.

“ _Huuuummmmaannnn,_ ” the creature rasped. It reared its head back, letting out a wicked cackle that would haunt JJ for the rest of her very short life. Slowly, like it was savoring the moment, it lowered its head again, drawing its eyes directly towards JJ. “ _Huuummmmm.._ ”

THWACK!

The creature stopped, it’s eyes crossing as it began to sway back and forth on its feet, as the sound of sizzling, like water sprinkled onto hot coals filled the air. It fell forward, face landing just inches from JJ’s feet and she saw..

The arrow sticking out of the back of its head.

The other two, realizing what had happened, spun around. Another arrow hit home, striking one in directly in the middle of its forehead, as a second caught the other in the throat. Before its fingers could wrap around the shaft, a fourth whizzed through the air.

One, then the other, dropped to the ground. Dead.

“Reid?” JJ blinked in disbelief as Reid rushed from the trees, kneeling over one to retrieve his arrow. He quickly placed it back into his quiver, reaching down to his hip, grabbing his gun and tossing it to JJ.

“Here,” he said, already moving towards the next. “Take this.”

JJ snatched the gun from the air, quickly scrambling to her feet.

“Where are the others?” he asked quickly, already tightening the string to his bow.

“I don’t..”

They both spun towards the forest, weapons raised at the sound of footfalls quickly approaching. Emily, battered and bloodied, ran towards Reid and JJ, four more close on her tail.

“Emily, get down!” Reid shouted, firing from his bow as JJ opened fire.

Emily rolled forward, turning into a low crouch.

“Slayer’s blade!” JJ popped off three more shots. “Right leg!”

Emily yanked up JJ’s pant leg, pulling the blade from its sheath then charged back the way she came. She ducked at a slashing hand, swinging with her own, the creature howling as the blade sliced through its shoulder. Then quickly crawled back up into the trees.

“Emily!” JJ shouted. “Fuck! I can’t get a shot!”

Emily ran back to Reid and JJ, the three forming a protective circle, their backs to each other.

“Where’s Hotch?” Reid asked, eyes following the tip of his arrow as he scanned the treetops.

“Back there,” Emily huffed.

Something leapt overhead. JJ fired two shots, rewarded with a piercing howl.

“Fuck!” Emily shouted, bringing her freehand up to cover an ear.

JJ side-eyed Reid, who also winced as he kept his aim. Even the creatures above, unseen, could be heard hissing in protest.

“Guys,” JJ swallowed nervously, “What’s going on?”

“You can’t hear it?” Reid practically shouted.

“Hear what?” All JJ could hear was the rain pelting everything, the distant howls and shrieks from wherever Hotch was.

“It’s Rossi!” Emily’s eyes widened, daring to take her eyes off the treetops and direct her gaze towards JJ and Reid. “The way back. There’s a way back!”

“GO!GO!GO!” Reid lowered his weapon, arm on JJ’s shoulder, practically pushing her towards the noise she couldn’t hear.

Emily grabbed JJ’s bicep. Whatever happened, she had no intention of letting her go.

“Hotch!” Reid shouted behind him. “We’re leaving!”

Between the firing of Reid’s arrows and the shrill, piercing noise, the creatures hesitated. Emily willed JJ to move faster, knowing the woman could never move as fast as either Emily or Reid. Which, despite their small lead, put them at a disadvantage. They could follow the sound, but they had no idea how far to go.

“JJ..” Hand still holding a fistful of JJ’s jacket, Emily loosened her grip.

“Don’t you dare, Emily Prentiss,” JJ huffed. “If you think I’m leaving without you..”

Everything changed. In the blink of an eye, the color of the trees, the sky, what was rain soaked and sodden turned to dry and crunching. Whatever, wherever it was, they’d passed through. Still running, they blinked at the glare of headlights pointed towards the tree line. They could see Morgan, Rossi and the Sheriff running towards them.

“GET BACK!” Reid screamed, waving an arm frantically. “They’re coming!”

Emily didn’t stop until she practically barreled into Morgan, JJ dropping to her knees to catch her breath only to be jerked back up to her feet by Emily and dragged towards the closest vehicle.

“Where’s Hotch?” Morgan asked, his gun pointed towards the space the three had come from.

Rossi turned down the speakers, the klaxon going from an ear-piercing shrill to an annoying hum. Of all of them, Hotch had the best hearing, he would still be able to pinpoint the noise despite the lower volume.

The seconds stretched excruciatingly. As all eyes and guns with fingers held tight onto triggers were pointed towards the forest.

Then, a howl filled the air, long and bellowing. A call.

It was the Sheriff who answered first, craning his neck backwards as long wailing howl released from his throat. He dropped his gun with one hand, tearing off his hat with the other. He ran towards the trees, stripping out of his clothes as he shifted, disappearing into the foliage. His pack quickly followed. More than a dozen, stripping, running, shifting. Streaks of color against the dark green backdrop.

They disappeared, leaving the humans, and one vampire, to sit and wait.

“JJ,” Emily whispered forcefully, fingers flexing around her gun. “Get behind me.”

“Prentiss,” JJ grit through clenched teeth, waiting for Emily’s glance as she took a stance shoulder to shoulder with Emily. “Shut up.”

Emily shook her head, half-smile on her lips. “That’s my girl..”

The forest exploded. Three of the Nosferatu charged from the brush, running on all fours. Reid fired first, his arrow striking home, killing it instantly. The others opened fire, the bullets nothing more than deterrents, irritants, as the creatures kept charging.

Feet from Reid, one of the creatures backhanded him, sending him sprawling into Morgan, the impact sending them both to the ground.

Rossi tucked his gun into its holster with one hand. With the other, he extended his arm, flames flickering from his fingers before rushing outwards. The creature screamed, arms over its face as it darted backwards.

The remaining creature ducked under the flames, still charging, not for Reid and Morgan but directly towards Emily and JJ. They both fired. But the bullets meant nothing, the creature in full blown bloodlust. Just as it leapt from its feet, meaning to crash into the two women, Emily dove, pushing herself into JJ, knocking the two of them out of the way. The creature careened into the vehicle behind them, instantly flipping itself onto all fours.

Emily grabbed JJ by the jacket, yanking both of them up onto their feet. She ran, practically dragging JJ with her, JJ firing back at the creature with her gun, trying to put some distance between them. The creature leapt, from car rooftop to rooftop, bridging the gap.

With a burst of speed and strength, it pushed itself forward towards both women. Emily screamed at the feel of claws slicing across her back. JJ turned, firing point blank into the creature’s face, obliterating its lower jaw. Undeterred by its ruined face, it kept charging.

“DUCK!” JJ yelled, grabbing Emily by the arm and pulling the woman down with her.

The creature sailed over its their heads, missing its target. Ten feet away, it landed on the ground, rolling onto all fours, whipping back around. Quickly, JJ raised her gun, pulled the trigger.

And heard nothing but an empty click. Just on reflex, JJ pulled the trigger again. The creatures eyes narrowed, lips sneering with the remainder of its ruined mouth.

Both JJ and Emily quickly darted their eyes around, looking for options and finding none. The proverbial rock and a hard place, behind them, a battle raged - the werewolves and Nosferatu had poured out of the forest, their howls and shrieks filling the air. Before them, it was just one, but it still had claws, it still had teeth, fueled by rage and bloodlust. All JJ and Emily had were an empty gun and a Slayer’s blade.

Emily gripped the hilt of the Slayer’s blade as the creature tensed, readying itself to jump. “Shit,” she muttered beneath her breath.

A streak of dark, the sound of something heavy landing on soft earth. Both women, even the creature widened their eyes as Hotch filled the space between the three. He rose to a crouch, fur covered in blood, some of it his, most of it not. An angry, feral growl released from his throat and then he charged. The fight over as soon as it began, with one swipe, Hotch connected with the creature’s head, breaking its neck, killing it instantly. But Hotch didn’t stop, kept slashing and hitting and tearing.

“HOTCH!” Emily screamed.

His head snapped towards her, lips curled in a snarl. The man within the beast gone, and all the werewolf smelled was vampire. Hotch charged.

Instinctively, JJ placed an arm protectively in front of Emily. “Hotch!” she yelled.

Hotch stopped in his tracks. Blinking. The yellow in his eyes dulled, turning brown. The fight within him dissipated as hard and quick like a popped balloon. Then, he collapsed at their feet, body quickly morphing back into the man.

Emily quickly pulled off her coat, draping it over Hotch’s nude form, as JJ cradled his head into her lap.

“Is he going to be okay?” JJ asked, looking up at Emily.

The wounds were extensive - scratches, slashing claw and torn bite marks on his torso, arms, face and neck. But werewolves didn’t heal like vampires. Kneeling, Emily placed a hand gently on Hotch’s head, thumb tracing across his forehead. “Yeah,” she finally answered. “It’ll just take some time.”

At the sound of footsteps quickly approaching, Emily’s eyes misted to black. She shot to her feet, growling, hand clenching the blade in her hand.

“Whoa!” Morgan skidded to a halt, hands raised defensively. “It’s me, Emily. It’s over.”

Reid and Rossi were right behind Morgan. Behind them, Emily could see Morgan was right, it was all over. The Nosferatu were dead, all that remained were the werewolves, now shifting back into their human forms. Emily returned her now normal eyes to the three men, brows still crinkled. “Where’s Garcia?”

“I’m here!” Garcia answered, waving a hand from behind the passenger door where she’d watched the entire thing.

Emily relaxed, for the first time in what felt like decades. They were okay. They were all okay. Her friends. Her family.

JJ.

She looked down at the feel of JJ’s fingers wrapping around her own. Emily tightened her grip. This time, she wouldn’t let go.

**


	8. Chapter 8

“Who is it?”

Hands stuffed in her pockets, Emily shifted nervously on the balls of her feet. “It’s Emily.”

It took a couple seconds, but the door to JJ’s hotel room swung open. JJ stood on the other side, hair hanging wetly from her head, wearing nothing but a towel. Eyes widening at the sucker punch twitch deep in her groin, Emily swallowed hard. “Oh,” Emily finally managed. “I didn’t mean to..”

It’d been after dawn by the time they’d all left the park. Rossi and Morgan had agreed to stay, assist with the clean up as more Federal authorities, along with a caravan of media arrived. Hotch had awoken in the back of the ambulance, body already healing. But, he’d need time, a day or two in the hospital.

Both Emily and JJ’s wounds had already heeled, to the amazement of the paramedics. JJ’s cuts and scratches now nothing more than fading pink lines on shower fresh skin.

“Emily,” JJ chuckled, ends of her hair dripping as she softly shook her head. “Come in.”

“No.” Emily clenched her jaw, stifling the shudder, every instinct in her body wanting to take JJ’s invitation. And more. “I think it’s best if I stay on this side.” She darted her eyes away, finding something of interest down the hall as she found the courage to say the words. “I have to leave. Now.”

“What?” JJ said, stunned. “Why?”

“To get here, to get to you..” Emily paused, folding her arms over her chest. “I made some deals. Ones that have to be repaid immediately.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I can’t say.” Emily lowered her head, peering up at JJ through her bangs. “I don’t want to say.”

“Why not?”

“Because I liked the way you looked at me when you opened that door. Just..” She shook her head, lifting her chin. “Ask Garcia. She’s gonna say something anyway before you get back to DC. Tell her I said it’s okay.”

This time it was JJ who folded her arms over her chest, jaw clenching as she inhaled deeply. “It’s Natasha. Do you owe her favor?”

“No..” Emily darted her eyes away as her cheeks burned hot. “I just..”

“Have to sleep with her again.”

Emily craned her neck to the side, bones cracking as she did. Sex with Natasha hadn‘t been so bad, the first time. Now, just thinking of what she had to do was like ants crawling all over her skin. “Something like that.”

“Something like *that*?” JJ gasped. “How much more could there be?”

“Nicolas.”

“Emily,” JJ sighed, eyes lazily sliding closed as she ran a hand over her face, shoulders sagging. She didn’t feel angry or jealous, just.. defeated, from the things done that couldn’t be undone. From the things Emily was about to do, that JJ couldn’t stop.

“Jayj..” Emily lowered her head, tucking her hands deeper into her pockets. All she’d fought for and, in an instant, she’d lost it. Again. “I’m sorry.”

“No.” JJ opened her eyes, jaw setting as she lifted her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

Emily’s face fell, all kicked, sad and lonely puppy. Hand snaking out, JJ grabbed Emily by the lapel of her jacket. She yanked. Hard. Emily half-stumbled into JJ’s hotel room, shocked and surprised. What came next shocked Emily even more. JJ pulled, swerving her arm until Emily’s back hit the wall, then JJ pressed herself against Emily, crashing their lips together.

The kiss was hard, bruising. Territorial. The moment Emily came up, gasping for air, JJ brought her lips to Emily’s neck then sank her teeth. Emily’s Achilles heel, and her jaw went slack, scream choking in the back of her throat, as her eyes misted to black, insides clenching, melting as a sudden burst of heat overtook her. Hands pressed palms flat to the wall, Emily curled her fingers, nails scraping, digging into the surface.

JJ released her hold, gently licking the already healing teeth marks on Emily’s neck. Then, she softly kissed the corner of Emily’s mouth.

“What..” Emily stammered, swallowing hard. “What was that for?”

“I get it,” JJ chuckled softly, surprised at her own actions. She lifted her eyes to Emily’s. “I’m yours. I get that, now. But, there’s something you have to understand,” she paused, eyes narrowing, steely and hard. “You are mine. And I’m not a china doll, Emily. You have to stop putting yourself at risk without considering how it affects me. If we are to do this, we have to do it together. Understood?”

Emily blinked, half-grin creeping onto her lips. This wasn’t how things were supposed to work. “Understood.”

“Now..” JJ stepped back slightly, creating enough space to where she could unwrap her towel. Stepping back into Emily, she draped her hands over Emily’s shoulders. “First, you’re going to kiss me.”

There was a retort on the tip of Emily’s tongue but Emily figured she had better things to do with her mouth. Head tilting slightly, she leaned in. This time, it was JJ’s eyes that fluttered closed, contented sigh exhaled into Emily’s mouth. Emily went soft and slow, all those things she’d mourned the loss of when she thought JJ was gone. The taste of her lips, the feel of her skin beneath her fingertips as Emily drew a hand down the swell of JJ’s backside, the warming of JJ’s skin, the growing scent of her arousal. All those little things Emily wanted so desperately but didn’t because of the space between them.

“You said first?” Emily asked.

“Yes,” JJ smiled. “Then, you’re going to take me to that bed over there, you’re going to make love to me, and if I don’t orgasm at least three times..”

“Three?” Emily said, all lopsided grin and raised eyebrow, hands wrapping around JJ‘s waist tight enough so that she could lift the other woman enough to begin walking the two of them towards the bed.

“Well, I was going to say four but I’m not sure if you have the stamina.”

“SSA Jennifer Jareau, if there‘s one thing I have in spades..” Emily stopped as the backs of JJ’s calves hit the edge of the mattress. She placed her hands on JJ’s forearms, pulling them off her shoulders before she gave JJ a playful shove. “It’s stamina.”

Emily shimmied out of her jacket, kicking off her shoes as JJ worked on Emily’s belt. Halfway out of her clothes, Emily leaned back down again to bring her lips to JJ’s. The kiss a little hungrier, a little sloppier as mouths opened and tongues dueled. As JJ brought her fingers around the back of Emily’s neck to pull her in deeper, as her other hand slid under Emily’s bra.

Teasing, Emily pulled back, breaking the kiss. Eyes on JJ, watching the other woman’s chest heave as Emily slowly peeled out of the rest of her clothes. The hint of things to come as JJ opened her thighs just a little wider.

“Emily..” JJ said softly, eyes focused on anything but Emily‘s as Emily slid her panties down her thighs. “Before we left the other side, Reid, he whispered something to you. What’d he say?”

Emily cocked an eyebrow. “You really want to know?”

JJ narrowed her eyes slightly, lip curling into the corner of her mouth. “If it’s going to stop this from happening? No.”

“He said..” Emily stepped back towards the bed, placing a hand to JJ’s shoulder and gently pushing her back as she went in for another kiss. “He said,” she paused again, gaze focused heatedly on JJ’s eyes. “I think she’s falling for you.”

“I think..” JJ curled her hand around the back of Emily’s neck, rising to meet Emily’s lips. “He’s right.”

She’d said it. And there was no going back now. As much as JJ wanted to be that other person, the one she used to be, she was this JJ now. The one who was falling in love with a vampire. No, not falling, falling presumed JJ was still in motion. While she wasn’t quite ready to say the word, she could no longer deny it. She’d fallen, and fallen hard.

It was in JJ’s kiss. Subtle, intangible, but Emily felt it, nonetheless, felt the entire foundation of her universe shift beneath her feet, reforming into something solid, stronger than it was before. But, that’s the way things were when Emily and JJ were together. Solid. It was only when they parted that things shifted, slipping through Emily’s fingers. Though she had no time, Emily intended to make it last.

Kissing JJ back, Emily was slow, gentle. Said the things with her lips that she couldn’t verbalize. _I want you. I need you. I love you._ She kissed until both their lips were swollen, JJ’s skin beneath Emily’s wandering fingertips feverishly warm, as JJ rose to meet Emily’s touch, moaning, whimpering into her mouth, saying with her body those very same things that she was too afraid to speak.

It was JJ who’s touch turned hungry, urgent. Fingers of one hand threading into Emily’s hair, as the other reached down, grasping Emily’s hand by the wrist and lowering.

“Emily, please,” JJ husked, gazing up with hooded and dilated eyes.

“As you wish,” Emily whispered back. She moved down, starting with JJ’s neck, kissing, licking, suckling. Tracing the line of a collarbone, dipping between the valley of her breasts, moving, kissing until she reached the hardened peak of a nipple, hungrily taking it into her mouths. Every mewl JJ made, every twitch of muscle, every scrape of her nails against Emily’s scalp, she told Emily how much she wanted it, how much she needed it, how much she didn’t want Emily to stop.

So, Emily didn’t. She licked and kissed her way down the smooth plain of JJ’s stomach, feeling JJ shifting beneath her, opening her thighs wider. Then, both of JJ’s hands were threading into Emily’s hair, as the scent of JJ’s wanting sex filled Emily’s nostrils and Emily let out a low and hungry growl.

She was just as slow, just as gentle, pulling JJ’s lips open with her fingers, prodding and licking every line, every crevice and crease. JJ groaned, arching her hips at that first push of Emily’s tongue into her pussy, Emily’s arms sliding around JJ’s thighs, locking her into place. Because like this, with JJ so open and vulnerable and *wanting*, Emily couldn’t deny her hunger any longer. She pushed her tongue in deep, eyes practically rolling into the back of her head as JJ’s taste flooded her mouth, that scent filling her nostrils. Then curled her tongue, JJ twitching, bucking as Emily hit that spot.

“Fuck, Em,” JJ mewled, hips writhing, rolling.

Emily withdrew her tongue, quickly replacing them with three fingers. Eagerly, she sucked JJ’s clit between tightly held lips. JJ keened, back bowing off the mattress as Emily increased the pace. Not so slow, not so gentle anymore, until the pace became almost merciless, judging by the sounds coming out of JJ’s throat, an animalistic caterwaul that sent hard shudders deep between Emily’s legs. But, JJ didn’t ask Emily to stop. She asked for more. Asked in the way she rolled her hips onto Emily mouth, onto her fingers. The way her nails dug into Emily’s scalp, tugging, scraping, pulling. The way her pussy clenched around Emily’s fingers.

Just when JJ reached the precipice, Emily quickly withdrew. Low growl rumbling up her throat, she grabbed JJ by the thighs, quickly flipping her onto her stomach. Emily reached for the closest pillow, then jammed it beneath JJ’s hips for the perfect angle. Before JJ realized what had happened, that Emily had stopped or could moan her protest, Emily pounced. Forearm to the mattress to hold most of her weight, Emily pressed her body flush to JJ’s, breasts to JJ’s back, hips against JJ’s already writhing ass.

It was like returning home, sliding her fingers back into JJ’s cunt, at the throaty moan JJ rewarded her with. Nose at the nape of JJ’s neck, Emily inhaled deeply. Eyes slowly misting to black, because this was *their* scent, Emily and JJ’s, skin and sweat and the heady musk of sex.

“Em..” JJ mewled, like she was trying to hold back, like she was trying to make it last.

Emily purred. She shifted her thumb, JJ twitching beneath her as Emily placed the pad of her thumb to JJ’s tight opening. “Come for me, Jennifer,” Emily husked.

“Fu..” it was the last thing JJ managed, before her fingers tightened into a white-knuckled death grip around the edge of the mattress and she buried her face into the pillow. Then she screamed, body bucking and convulsing. She didn’t just fall over into the precipice, she exploded, like she’d been shot from a cannon.

Satisfied she’d milked JJ of every twitch and tremble, Emily withdrew her fingers, smiling as JJ protested with a weak moan. She placed her hands to JJ’s hips once more, rolling the woman over a bit more gently this time. The hunger within her, the always present hunger, it’s what made her growl hungrily as she gazed down at her handiwork. JJ’s pussy, wet and swollen and flushed to almost red. And Emily went down again, lathing all of JJ’s pussy with the flat of her tongue, like she could feed, gorge herself to the point of bursting on just this alone.

“Em..” JJ panted between her mewling whimpers. She reached down, threading her fingers into Emily’s hair and gently tugging. Emily didn’t stop, just lifted her eyes right before she teasingly flicked her tongue across JJ’s clit, chuckling as JJ’s mouth went slack, brows creasing as another hard twitch reverberated through her groin. “Em,” JJ said a little more insistently, fingers in Emily’s hair tightening. “You keep doing that and I’m going to come again.”

“I thought that was point?” Emily raised her head, drawing her tongue salaciously across her bottom lip. “Something about my stamina. Make you come at least six times before I leave.”

“I believe it was three,” JJ chuckled.

“Well, then,” Emily grinned, head already lowering. “I have two more to give you.”

JJ groaned, brows crinkling from another long lick of Emily’s tongue. Fingers still threaded in Emily’s hair, JJ tugged playfully, Emily lifting her eyes once more. Whatever it was JJ wanted to say, caught in the back of her throat at those dark eyes gazing back up at her. Chest squeezing, JJ felt herself falling all over again.

“C’mere,” JJ said softly, pulling Emily towards her as she lifted, the two meeting somewhere in the middle. Groaning at the taste on Emily’s tongue, JJ pulled her in deeper, hands sliding up Emily’s back, legs draping over Emily’s hips. The kiss deep and slow, JJ’s heart slowing as Emily’s rose. The moment they parted, JJ brought her lips to Emily’s neck, finding her pulse point and suckling hard.

“Fuck, Jayj,” Em groaned, eyes fluttering, mouth going slack as her fangs popped to fully extended points. “You’re really going to have to stop doing that.”

“Or what?” JJ teased, running her tongue flat across the throbbing pulse. “You’ll do something we’ll both enjoy?” JJ felt Emily tensing, the hesitancy, the insecurity etching itself all over her face. The fear that she could lose control. Fingers to Emily’s chin, JJ placed a gentle kiss to her lips. “You won’t hurt me, Emily. I trust you. I want you to.” She kissed her again, this time, flicking her tongue across Emily’s lips as her eyes darkened with want. “Take me, Emily.”

It was all the permission Emily needed. Growl rumbling up her throat, Emily pushed her face into the crook of JJ’s neck, as JJ’s fingers threaded tighter into Emily’s hair, encouraging her. With the barest tip of a point, Emily ran a fang along the length of JJ’s pulse point, tiny beads of blood forming along the faint scratch. Emily gently lapped, eyes fluttering closed at that first taste.

With a hand, Emily reached down, placing it onto one of the knees draped over her hips. She shifted, maneuvering JJ’s leg between her own, JJ understanding, anchoring her heel into the mattress. Emily shuddered, groaned as she pushed herself down, at that first feel of her pussy, aching and wet with need, against the muscled steel of JJ’s thigh.

Hands planted onto the mattress on either side of JJ’s ribs, Emily began rolling her hips, hard, jutting headboard smacking sway. Mouth slack, she grunted with each push, at each little jolt of electricity that burst outwards from her groin.

JJ reached, cupping Emily’s breasts with both hands, squeezing, rolling her thumbs over the hardened nipples. Craning her neck, she eagerly sucked one into her mouth, pinching the other just hard enough to make Emily toss her head back, guttural groan releasing from her lips. Then, she drew a hand down Emily’s side, fingertips bumping over the ridges of Emily’s ribs, feeling the muscles flexing and releasing. She traced her fingers over the curve of Emily’s stomach, towards the small of her back. Then, tit-for-tat, slid them down the valley of Emily’s ass, her own body still tingling in remembrance of that touch, JJ gave it to Emily, pressing her fingertip to that tight opening.

“Fuck,” Emily grunted, arms giving out as her body was hit with the first little paroxysm. And her mouth was at JJ’s neck. She could feel the hard pulse throbbing against her lips.

Quickly, Emily snaked her hand between them. And just as she plunged her fingers, once again, into JJ’s sex, Emily sank her fangs. JJ howled. It was that howl, along with the taste filling her mouth, the tension bubbling over in the pit of her belly, that sent Emily over the edge, dragging JJ down with her. After an eternity, when the convulsions subsided to quakes to trembles, the two collapsed exhausted into each other, the heavy veil of sleep taking them both.

When Emily recovered, and JJ had mostly recovered, Emily kept her word. JJ came, whimpering and mewling, like her body was on sensory overload, crying out like she wasn‘t sure she wanted Emily to stop or keep going. Then, just for good measure, Emily made her come again.

Eventually, though it took every ounce of resolve within her, Emily slipped out of JJ’s bed. Fingers brushing the sweat sticky strands from her forehead, Emily gently kissed the top of JJ’s head. All those times before, when Emily had said goodbye, this time felt different. This time *was* different. JJ might wake up without Emily. But, this time..

JJ wouldn’t be alone.

**

“Oh my,” Garcia purred, smiling at JJ over the lip of her coffee cup. “Don’t you look like the cat that ate the canary? Or, should I say,” she paused, leaning in conspiratorially as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “The cat that ate the vampire.”

“Garcia,” JJ groaned, but couldn’t contain the smile pulling at her lips. They were standing in the galley of the jet, having taken off a half hour ago and finally able to move around as the pilot turned off the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign.

“I take it things between the two of you are good?”

“I think..” JJ lifted her eyebrows. “Better than good.”

“So..” The playful smile on Garcia’s face faded, turning a bit more serious. “You’re planning on blood-bonding with her?”

The blush on JJ’s cheeks faded as she swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay.” Garcia placed a gentle hand on JJ’s forearm. “It’s just.. When she thought she’d lost you. JJ, I’ve never seen Emily like that. Not even when Doyle..” Garcia stopped herself, shaking her head. “I’m just saying, she got a little crazy.”

“I know,” JJ sighed, then lifted her eyes to Garcia once more. “She told me. About Natasha.. and Nicolas.”

Garcia’s eyes shot up above the rims of her glasses. “Oh.”

“I made her promise to, at least, think of consulting with me the next time she has the urge to do something monumentally stupid.”

“Ha!” Garcia snorted. “Good luck with that, sister. Vampires aren’t exactly known for their good impulse control. Even our Mistress of Misery.”

“Yeah, well,” JJ grinned. “I might not be able to break her of that habit, but I‘m sure it‘ll be fun to try.”

The smile on Garcia’s lips broadened, not playful but more sincere. “You’re really in this for the long haul, aren’t you?”

JJ could only chuckle, she hadn’t really thought of the ‘long haul’. But, now that the question had been asked, she couldn’t think of any other answer. “Yes,” she inhaled deeply. “I guess I am.”

JJ turned to return to her seat. She stopped for a moment to open one of the overhead compartments, grabbing a blanket and stretching it out over Hotch as the man slept on the couch. A couple hours in the hospital had done him good, but he should have stayed longer. But Hotch, being Hotch, managed to growl his way into an early release. Now, he slept the sleep of the heavily medicated, his still visible wounds a stark reminder of the mortal peril they’d all been in less than a day ago.

 _The long haul_ , JJ could only think to herself as she pressed a gentle hand to Hotch’s forehead, checking for fever. The conversation had been about Emily but the words were weighted with a bit more meaning. The long haul wasn’t just about JJ’s choice to stay with Emily, it was about her choice to stay with them all. She found her eyes lifting to gaze about the cabin, towards her newly found family. She hadn’t asked, but when the moment came, they’d all risked their lives to save hers. And, should that circumstance ever rise again, JJ knew she would do the same for any one of them.

She took the empty seat next to Reid, who’d done nothing but stare out the window since before the jet had taken off. JJ placed her hand on his forearm, gently shaking him back to the present. “What are you thinking?”

“It’s all still there,” he said, peeling his eyes away from the window to turn to JJ. “150 years, we thought it was destroyed, but it’s not. Can you imagine?” He smiled wistfully, head turning once again towards the window. “All those cities. The ones that were left behind.”

“You wish you stayed?” she said, more statement than question.

“I do.” He pulled his eyes away from the window. “But I don’t regret leaving. My duty was to the Brownies. I can’t explain it anymore than that. But when they told me the Nosferatu were coming, that they were coming for you guys..” Reid paused, lips pursing as he searched for the correct words. “I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to any of you.”

JJ smiled softly, then leaned over, gently pressing her lips to Reid’s cheek.

“What was that for?”

Her grin widened. “For being you. Even if I don’t understand why I can’t call you Legolas.”

“Please,” Reid snorted. “I’m way cooler than that guy.”

“Yes, you are,” JJ chuckled, clasping her hand around Reid’s and giving it a light squeeze. JJ quieted, the smile fading as she turned a bit more serious. “Back at the church, you said vampires don’t worship like we do. What did you mean?”

“Oh.” His eyebrows lifted at the sudden shift in conversation. “All things considered, vampires are very superstitious. The churches are places of worship, but the Gods they worship aren’t mythical beings but the Royal family. For the Royal family’s protection and guidance, they go to church to give tributes..”

“You mean money.”

“Pretty much,” Reid admitted. “Interesting enough, they believe the Royal family are imbued with special powers, particularly that of divination.”

“Prophecy?”

“Yes. Before the Rift, the prophecy was typical resurrection mythology, the great King Uter rising from the dead and rejoining all the clans, happiness and peace..”

“Before? The prophecy’s changed?”

“Yes. But, it’s all rather vague. The vampires have been rather tight-lipped about it. Having studied vampire culture, I’d guess it’s not good. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing.” JJ smiled weakly before she turned her face forward, hoping no one noticed the way the blood had drained from her face, caused by the sudden sense of dread twisting in the pit of her stomach. “Just curious.”

**

Closing the door to Emily’s apartment, for once thankful Emily had given her a key, JJ wearily placed her back to it, exhausted sigh blowing across her lips.

It’d been a long day, a really long day. Head sagging forward, JJ looked down at her left hand, fingers splaying open as she gazed at the tiny strip of pale skin that used to be her engagement ring. The conversation she never wanted to have, the one she never would have believed several months ago. It was long, draining, exhausting. There were tears from both of them.

As hard as she tried, JJ couldn’t be that person, able to juggle two lives. So, she chose. She chose the world that terrified and exhilarated her. She chose the world that made her feel complete. In the end, all she could do was hope it wasn’t the wrong decision.

With another exhausted sigh, JJ pushed herself from the door, peeling off her jacket as she entered Emily’s apartment. The only sanctuary JJ could think of when the crushing weight of her decision came down.

“Hello, Agent Jareau.”

Instantly, JJ froze, eyes widening in shock. Just as quickly, she clasped her hands before her, head bowing. “Madame Ambassador.”

“I see you’re finally learning.” Elizabeth Prentiss smiled politely, casually rising from her seat on the couch. She quietly approached, stopping feet from JJ. “But, not enough,” she said derisively, disapproving eyebrow rising. “No wonder my daughter’s acting irrationally. You reek of him.”

JJ’s cheeks flared, the heat rising all the way up to singe the tips of her ears. It’d been a pity fuck, nothing more, nothing less. “It’s over..” she stammered. “I‘m not engaged anymore.”

Elizabeth‘s raised eyebrow moved a tick higher. “You choose Emily?”

Not thinking, JJ lifted her head, meeting Elizabeth’s eyes. “That surprises you?”

“When it comes to my daughter, nothing surprises me these days. Speaking of..” She lifted her eyes, breaking their gaze to focus on the door. “Where is she?”

“She’s with Natasha,” JJ practically spit the name out, unable to contain her anger. “And Nicolas. Emily’s repaying a debt.”

Elizabeth reached out, placing the tips of her fingers to the point of JJ’s chin, raising JJ’s head until their eyes met. And JJ swallowed hard as she looked into Elizabeth’s blackening eyes. “A debt she made for you.” Elizabeth lowered her hand, inhaling a controlling breath as the black faded from her eyes. Straightening her back, Elizabeth clasped her hands behind her back, casually strolling away from JJ. “The time quickly approaches when I will no longer be able to save my daughter from her stupidity. There are only so many holes I can dig her out of.”

“You mean the Duke?” JJ dared to raise her eyes. “Him wanting Emily to marry Nicolas.”

Off that, Elizabeth spun, the shock written all over her face before she quickly composed herself.

“You had no idea?”

Elizabeth chuckled softly to herself. “A conversation from long ago. Emily was barely three months old. I didn’t think he had the balls.”

“Why does he want Emily to marry Nicolas? What does it gain him?”

Elizabeth scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “If my daughter paid more attention to the Court, she’d know exactly what this gains the Duke. Let’s just say the King has more bastard children than he has common sense. Nicholas and Natasha, only just two of them.”

“The Duke’s making a play for the throne? I thought he was dying.”

“Please, child. It’ll be centuries before that occurs. Nicolas is a lot like his father, entitled, impetuous, but with the Duke in his court..” Elizabeth’s voice trailed, the wheels already spinning.

But, it wasn’t just the wheels in Elizabeth’s mind spinning, JJ was making connections of her own. “But, that’s not the corner the Duke wishes to place himself in, is it?”

Off that, Elizabeth’s eyes went black again, her gaze hard and cold as she focused on JJ. She slowly approached, stalking. If JJ didn‘t know any better, she‘d swear the woman‘s eyes were actually getting darker. Then, JJ felt her limbs going languid, as if her muscles were melting. Elizabeth toe to toe with her, eyes narrowing as she lifted her chin. “Explain.”

“On the other side, we found a church..” JJ paused, trying desperately to swallow the words she knew she shouldn’t say. “There was a book. A family tree. There was a drawing..” she swallowed again, beads of sweat forming on her brow as she tried desperately to keep from talking. “It was Emily.”

Elizabeth took a step backwards, slowly closing her eyes. Just like that, the connection was gone. JJ gasped, knees buckling like she’d been a rubber band pulled taut and Elizabeth had let go.

“My ancestor,” Elizabeth quietly spoke. “I haven’t seen that drawing since before the Rift.”

“Vampires worship royalty..” JJ pressed a hand to her chest, heart hammering as if she’d run a dozen marathons at once. “Emily..”

“Only a handful know what you do. Out of respect for my daughter, be glad I haven‘t slit your throat.” Elizabeth wandered back towards the windows, gazing through the curtains. “Our family’s reign was relatively short, only 500 years. But, she was.. A bit more progressive than her predecessors. After the coup, the King had the entire family slaughtered, only one survived..”

“It’s why they’ve tried to kill Emily,” JJ panted, still catching her breath, still reeling from the sensation of being compelled. “Tried to kill you.”

“Yes. There are those who remember my family’s reign, the Golden Age of the vampires some have called it. Before the history books were erased then rewritten, mind you. Others called it treason, a betrayal of the very thing that makes us what we are.”

Quicksand. That’s what JJ felt, like she’d stepped into a giant pool of quicksand. Thick and cloying and heavy. Yet, as much as she wanted to run, she knew she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. This was Emily’s life, and the forces swirling around her, pushing her into the muck at her feet, JJ knew that was no more Emily’s choice than falling in love with a vampire was JJ’s choice. “What does this have to do with me?”

“I don’t know.” Elizabeth turned from the window. “Whatever forces are circling around my daughter, you are part of them. Considering the lengths my daughter will go to ensure your safety..”

“It’s the prophecy,” JJ said, thinking aloud.

“What?”

“Every royal family has one. What was yours?”

“I..” this time, it was Elizabeth’s turn to stammer. “I don’t know. Those scriptures have been lost. Even from me.”

“Okay. What about the King? What’s his prophecy?”

“That..” Elizabeth stiffened, the black in her eyes returning. “Is something you definitely should not know. Not that any of this matters,” she said, gathering her coat and purse before she approached JJ. Lifting a hand, she placed it gently to JJ’s cheek. “You won’t remember anyway.”

And JJ felt her body going heavy, languid again, as a fog enveloped her brain. Elizabeth leaned in close, bringing her lips to JJ’s ear. “When you see my daughter, please tell her something for me..”

**


	9. Chapter 9

Key sliding into the lock, Emily froze the moment she opened her door. It wasn’t JJ’s scent that caused her step to slow, a pleasant surprise, it was her mother’s.

“JJ?” she called out cautiously. She knew the day would come when JJ met her mother, she just hadn’t intended it to happen so soon, or day when Emily wasn’t present.

“In here,” JJ called out sleepily, as if she’d woken up from a nap. Which she had. Emily found her on the couch, blanket draped over her legs, book from Emily’s shelf across her lap. JJ was dressed in a pair of Emily’s shorts and a t-shirt. Which, for Emily, was even a bigger and more pleasant surprise.

Entering the living room, Emily darted her eye about. “Where’s my moth..”

“Emily!” JJ gasped, throwing the blanket from her legs as she scurried off the couch. She ran towards Emily, hands gingerly caressing over the cheeks and forehead covered in scratches and bruises. “What’d they do to you?”

“I’m fine, JJ.” Emily tried retreating from JJ‘s concerned touch, knowing it was a losing battle. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You look like death warmed over.”

Emily’s skin was deathly pale, dark circles under her eyes. To JJ, Emily looked more than exhausted, she looked.. drained. Like the last time Emily spent a night with Natasha, but worse, because this time she’d spent it with Nicolai as well.

One hand to Emily‘s shoulder, the other holding her forearm, JJ escorted Emily to the couch. “You need to feed.”

“JJ, I said I’m..”

“Emily!” JJ snapped. “Shut up and sit down!”

Emily was too tired to argue and, admittedly, slightly turned on by this bossy side of JJ’s. She flopped backwards onto the couch, eyes fluttering closed at the feel of the soft furniture against her back. Only to snap her eyes open again as JJ straddled her lap.

“Jayj..” Emily whined.

“We’re not arguing about this, Emily.” She flicked the hair off her neck with a hand, tilting her head. “Now, shut up and eat.”

Emily chuckled, brows crinkling at how quickly things had changed between them. Thinking back to that first time she fed off JJ, the revulsion that roiled off the other woman. A complete 180 from the woman sitting on her lap today. Lifting herself from the couch, Emily placed a hand onto JJ’s thigh as the other began pulling away the loose strands still covering JJ’s neck. “You know,” she smiled, taking a moment to run her tongue up the line of JJ’s pulse point. “You’re kinda hot when you’re bossy.”

“I know,” JJ sighed raggedly, eyes fluttering closed at the feel of Emily’s tongue on her skin. Her intention hadn’t been to become aroused, just to give Emily what she needed to make her feel better. Then, Emily’s lips were on JJ’s skin and the heat suddenly flared between JJ’s legs, leaving JJ to wonder when just a touch from Emily was enough to send her careening towards the edge. Wondering when, exactly, she began craving that touch. Then, JJ felt the tiny pinpricks of pain in her neck, pain that instantly turned to pleasure, as JJ’s hips bucked, her pussy twitching with each soft pull of Emily’s lips.

“JJ..” JJ shuddered. “Please.”

Emily murmured a response, quickly drawing her hand off JJ’s shoulder and snaking it between them, into JJ’s panties, fingers sliding between cotton and skin. A soft growl rumbled up Emily’s throat, at the feel of JJ’s pussy, so wet and soft against her fingers. Fingers pressed to JJ’s clit, Emily circled, allowing JJ’s hips to do the rest.

“Oh fuck, Em,” JJ grunted. Already so close. She pressed her hips down hard, grinding against Emily’s fingers. It didn’t take much, it didn’t take much at all and JJ keened as the paroxysm hit her, surprised at the intensity and quickness of her orgasm.

Taking what she needed, Emily gently removed her fangs from JJ’s neck, running her tongue over the tiny wounds for faster healing. She held JJ to her, wrapping her arms around JJ’s waist and pulling her tight. Content to just hold the woman, as JJ slowly came back around.

Still panting lightly, JJ lifted her head to gaze back at Emily. “Sorry about setting off the fireworks a little early. That’s never happened before.”

“Sure it hasn’t.”

“Shut up! You know what I mean.” She playfully slapped Emily’s arm. “Besides, you’re the one who said it wasn’t always going to be like this.”

Emily tilted her head, brain stuck on one word. “Always?”

“Yes.” Head lowering as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, JJ inhaled deeply. “I broke up with Will.”

“Jayj, I’m sorry.”

JJ craned her neck backwards, letting out a long sigh. “He had no idea I was missing. I mean, I knew I was going there to break up with him, but then he opened the door and there was this part of me that.. expected him to know, expected him to wrap me in his arms all worried and concerned. And, I know it’s wrong and I shouldn’t compare, but when I was on the other side, when I felt that connection between us sever.. I knew you would come for me.” JJ paused, bringing her head back forward again. Then, lower lip trembling, eyes welling with tears, JJ watched her fingers as she brought them gently to Emily’s jaw. “And you did. That moment when I felt you again, that’s when I knew. That’s when I chose you. Then, there I was, standing at his doorstep, wanting to feel that with him.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “I’m a horrible person.”

“No, you’re not.” Emily chuckled, drawing her fingers over JJ’s forehead. “Loath as I am to admit it, the two of you have history. Just because the door is closed, doesn’t mean everything behind it is instantly forgotten.”

JJ leaned forward, gently bringing her lips to Emily’s. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For being so understanding.”

“Are you kidding?” Emily snorted. “The only reason I’m not dancing in the streets right now is because you’re sitting on my lap, looking all vulnerable and smelling like fresh orgasm. Do you know how jealous I was of him?”

JJ chuckled, wiping an eye with the palm of her hand. “I have an idea.”

“Yeah, just be glad I never met the guy. I might have done something stupid like rip his face off with my bare hands!”

“That would have been bad. Especially, when your mother came to bail you out.”

“Speaking of my mother, were you here when she came by?”

“Yeah,” JJ paused, brows scrunching like she’d lost her train of thought. “I was.”

“Really? You? And my mother? Here? What on earth did you talk about?”

“She said,” JJ paused, licking her lips as her eyes went glassy. “You should really perform the blood-bond ceremony.”

“JJ?” Emily tensed, an uneasy feeling crawling all over her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. “What else?”

“I.. I don’t remember. I know she was here. I know we talked. But, I don‘t remember.” JJ blinked, the glassy look gone as her eyes refocused on Emily. “Why don’t I remember?”

“JJ.” Emily placed her hands on either side of JJ’s face, eyes narrowing as she pushed their faces closer together. “Look at me, JJ.” Emily spoke in vampire, murmuring words she knew by rote but words so ancient she had no idea of their true meaning. As she said the words, the pupils of JJ’s eyes shrank to tiny black pinpoints before expanding. Then the blood drained from Emily’s face. “Oh my God.”

The fog in JJ’s brain lifted, the world instantly coming back into focus. “She compelled me,” JJ stammered, heart hammering in her chest at the sudden realization. The thing JJ feared the most, the loss of her free will. “Your mother..” she gasped, lungs squeezing as the panic attack washed over her. “She.. she compelled me.”

Hands still clasped to JJ’s face, Emily held on tighter as JJ began to squirm, wriggling and writhing like she was trying to get away. Like she was trying to run. Once again, Emily felt it all slipping through her fingers. Something so right, so perfect and in an instant, and by her own mother no less, Emily could feel the foundation beneath her feet shifting once more. “JJ! Come back to me, Jennifer!”

“She compelled me,” the words came out in a hoarse croak as JJ’s eyes darted to Emily. “Why would she do that? Did she..” her voice trailed, fingers quickly going towards her neck, searching for puncture marks.

“No!” Emily snapped. “She wouldn’t dare!”

Elizabeth Prentiss could be cold, she could be cruel but even Elizabeth Prentiss, Emily knew, would never be that malicious. To feed from the one thing in the world that mattered to her own daughter the most.

“Then why?”

“I don’t know. Did you meet with her before or after you spoke with Will?” Emily frantically searched for the answer in JJ’s eyes. One of the many things that separated Emily from pure vampires, she didn’t have the power to compel. Without that ability, she couldn’t reverse what her mother had done.

“After,” JJ swallowed, remembering. “Definitely after.”

“But you talked. You can’t remember anything?”

“No.” JJ shook her head. “It’s like I can remember that moment in time but everything in it is blank.”

“She wiped your memory,” Emily answered.

“Yes.” JJ brought her hands up, fingers wrapping around Emily’s wrists, craving the stability Emily gave her. “What could I have possibly known that she doesn’t want me to remember?”

All Emily could do was shake her head back and forth. Everything her mother did had a reason, a purpose. Emily couldn’t even begin to imagine what JJ knew that Emily’s own mother saw fit to erase. Everything Elizabeth did, she did for a reason. And Emily knew whatever it was Elizabeth had erased, she’d done with the intention of Emily finding out. She’d left enough of JJ’s memory, just enough. For now, it was all Emily needed. She gently drew her fingers across JJ’s cheeks, caressing the skin. “Do you trust me?”

JJ looked at her, brows scrunching like it was the stupidest question on the face of the planet. Then, she pulled one of the hands on her face towards her lips, kissing Emily’s palm. “With everything I am.”

Emily closed her eyes, tilting her head forward until their foreheads met. The one thing she could think to do to keep from crying. The foundation beneath her feet shifting once again. She inhaled deeply, pulling back until her eyes could meet JJ’s, face turning serious. “Get dressed. There’s someplace I should to take you.”

**

They drove in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. They were driving East, as far as JJ could tell, from Virginia into West Virginia, off the main highway where the drive occasionally slowed down at they passed through one small town after another.

Eventually, JJ wasn’t even aware she’d done so, JJ slipped her hand over, placing it on Emily’s knee, just wanting to feel some kind of connection to the woman. JJ was scared, terrified actually. Just when she thought she’d found her footing in this new world she’d found herself in, something else came along the way to knock her senseless. So, she reached for Emily. The one solid thing that kept everything from going completely topsy-turvy. She reached for Emily because, no matter how crazy or scary things had turned, JJ knew Emily was the one thing that was right. The one person who could make JJ feel what she hadn’t in a long time.

Safe.

Feeling JJ’s hand on her knee, Emily pulled one of her own off the steering wheel, reaching down to thread their fingers together. She brought their joined hands up, kissing the backs of JJ’s knuckles. Emily didn’t understand why JJ would choose to stay with her. Instead, she chose to just accept it. Accept the fact that JJ wanted Emily in her life, despite all the dangers. And Emily would choose to do whatever it took to keep JJ with her, to make her feel safe.

JJ hadn’t been paying attention Emily turned off the main road, the scenery around them reminding JJ too much of her own home town. The place she’d run from, as fast and as far as her feet could take once the opportunity presented itself.

They pulled into a non-descript storage facility, Emily punching in a number on the keypad at the security gate. Emily pulled the car around to the back of the building, where everything seemed just a shade darker, the air between them growing tense.

JJ followed as Emily exited the car, entering the building. She walked them through a labyrinth of corridors, past orange colored corrugated doors, until she finally stopped at the unit JJ presumed was Emily’s. Fishing a key to the padlock out of her pocket, Emily paused, taking a large swallow of resolve. She glanced back towards JJ, nodding her head on question, JJ answering with her own. Then, Emily opened the storage unit, the steel door creaking like train wheels slowly moving across the tracks.

Entering the unit, Emily pulled the string to the overhead light.

All JJ could do was gasp.

There was a table, a chair, a desk lamp. Stacked on either side were boxes upon boxes, evidence boxes, a single name scrawled on all of them - Jareau. That was enough to fill JJ with dread, to make her stomach clench and drop somewhere down to her knees. But, what had made her gasp, made the blood drain from her face completely -

At the far wall stood a whiteboard, nothing different than what was in the conference room of the BAU. It was covered in newspaper clippings, old photos. Except, instead of random victims, the pictures and names were people JJ knew. The pictures, themselves, they were of JJ. That little girl from twenty years ago - the one covered in dirt and scratches, eyes wide with terror as she was carried by a police officer into a waiting ambulance. The other pictures, the ones that weren’t off JJ, were also familiar to her. There were the pictures of JJ’s sister. There were the pictures of Gavin Burnsley.

“Emily,” JJ whispered. She approached the wall, fingers trembling as she brought them up to the picture of her sister, caressing the face like she could imagine it was real.

“Gavin Burnsley..” Emily approached cautiously, standing at JJ’s shoulders as her eyes focused on his photo. “Right before I killed him, he said..” she paused, nervous lump in her throat. “He said he’d been ordered to kill you and your sister.”

“What?” JJ’s head snapped towards Emily, eyes wide as saucers. “And you believe him?”

“I didn’t at first.” Emily kept her eyes forward, unable, unwilling to return JJ’s gaze. “But, the more I thought about it, the more things didn’t make sense. For what he did to you and your sister, he should have been crucified. He wasn’t a member of a powerful clan. Nothing but small potatoes. And yet..” Emily paused, eyes scanning over the board, stopping at a photo of JJ’s family. “He was set free.”

“Why?” JJ shook her head, knowing Emily didn’t have the answer. She followed Emily’s gaze, returning her eyes to the board, the wheels in her mind beginning to spin. “You think your mother knows?”

“No,” Emily answered flatly. “But, I think that’s what she’s been doing all this time, finding the answer on her own.”

“And you?” JJ turned her head, focusing on the stacks of boxes behind them. “How long have you been working on this?”

“A couple months.”

“And this is it? This is everything?”

“Yeah. All the human police files, anyway. The files from the vamp investigation have been a little harder to get a hold of.”

JJ walked over to one of the boxes, pulling off the lid and rifling through it. “What do you think?”

“The fuck if I know. The more I learn, the more things don’t make any sense. I mean, I’ve always thought someone was screwing around with the selection of my Companions. I can understand not coming after my mother and I, we were already in hiding. But, the idea that they went after you, twenty years ago? It makes no..”

“Inoculations,” JJ suddenly blurted. “Something Reid said to me,” she said off Emily’s confused reaction. “The Selection process is done using blood taken during inoculations.”

“Okay?” Emily shook her head, still not following.

“My parents, they’ve always been a bit vamp-phobic. We used to live in a humans only community. When I was eight, my Dad got a new job and we had to move. They wouldn’t let my sister and I into school unless we were properly inoculated.”

“Fuck,” Emily whispered, eyes narrowing as some of the dots began to connect.

“You said I was perfect. They had no idea I existed until my sister and I took the test. But why take both of us?”

“Neither of you had turned 18,” Emily answered. “That’s when the second test is taken. After maturation. What if.. What if you both were compatible? Or..” Emily turned her head back towards the board. “Burnsley was just hedging his bets. J. Jareau,” Emily pointed towards the board. “Your sister’s name was Jackie.”

“You think Burnsley didn’t know which one of us to take?”

“Maybe? Think about it. You and your sister are taken with the intent to kill both of you. You survive. If someone wanted you dead, why not try again? God knows, failure didn’t stop them from coming after me.”

“My sister’s dead because of mistaken identity? The people responsible are still out there? Still walking free?”

“JJ..”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m okay.”

“Tell me what you want me to do.”

“I want..” JJ closed her eyes, a mixture of anguish and rage churning within her. The sensation, it more than stung, it cut, chainsaw like down to the very essence of her being. The thing that had cut down, at a very young age, the person she should have been, the shadow that hovered over her from that moment on, shaped her into the woman she was today - those all weren’t the workings of a single madman but a single piece of something greater. Something still out there, threatening all that she cared about. All that JJ loved. Beneath the anguish and the rage was a single thought, one that drove itself up into her conscious like a scream.

 _Never again_.

“I want you to find them. Find them.. Find them for me, Emily.” When JJ opened her eyes again, they were hard, cold. The pupils dilated so wide the irises were nothing but slivers of blue around a sea of black. “So I can rip their fucking hearts out.”

**

“Emily Prentiss,” Natasha drawled, Cheshire-cat grin on her face as she stood in the doorway to her penthouse suite, wearing a robe made of material so sheer it might as well have been invisible. “Thank you for knocking, this time.”

“Where’s your brother?” Emily moved forward, having the common courtesy to, at least, pause to allow Natasha to step out of the way as she crossed the threshold.

“Why?” Natasha’s grin broadened, closing the door behind her. “Come for round 2?”

Emily growled, pupils widening. “Natasha..”

Natasha dismissively waved a hand. “Oh please, save the _sturm und drang_ for someone who wasn’t there. We both know how much you enjoyed yourself.”

Emily blinked, eyes returning to normal as her cheeks suddenly burned hot.

“There. That’s better.” Natasha stepped towards Emily, leisurely drawing her fingers up the lapels of Emily’s jacket. “Interesting.” She stilled, head tilting curiously. “You still haven’t blood-bonded with your human yet her scent is all over you. I bet..” she purred, eyes going hooded, irises dilating as she leaned in closer. “If I kissed you, all I would taste is her cunt.”

“You owe me favor,” Emily sneered. “I’ve come to collect.”

Instantly, the playful grin on Natasha’s face faded, instantly replaced with barely contained anger. She stepped back, eyes misting to complete black. “What do you want?”

“Twenty years ago, someone ordered Gavin Burnsley to kill two human children. I want to know who.”

“I remember that case. I was just a child, mind you, but even then I found it strange.” Natasha walked towards the liquor cabinet, pouring herself a stiff one, which she downed in one swallow then fixed herself another. She turned back around, eyes boring into Emily. “You work for the F.B.I., what do you need me for?”

“As you know, the trial was a sham. The human records are.. lacking.” Emily and JJ had spent days going over the files Emily had. They didn’t just run into dead ends, but a labyrinthine maze with corridors that only lead to more questions. Questions the human files couldn’t answer.

Natasha chuckled. Emily snapped her head towards the sound, eyes firing daggers.

“You’re still thinking like a human, Emily. Even your mother would be disappointed.”

Hands curling into fists, Emily marched across the room, not stopping until she hovered over Natasha, glaring down with eyes completely black. “Explain.”

“I don’t know anything,” Natasha tutted. “But even I can put two and two together. My God, Emily, you still think this is just about your human? They are nothing but lambs to the slaughter for us. If someone wanted your human dead, it wasn’t about her, it’s about you.”

Emily swayed on her feet, hand covering her stomach as she felt the bile quickly churning in her gut. She’d been concentrating so hard on who would do such a thing to JJ and her sister, she never paused to ask ‘why’. And there it was, as plain as the nose on her face.

Because of Emily.

Emily turned, quickly walking towards the couch and taking a seat, elbows on her knees as her head slumped forward.

“As I told said before, you have made powerful enemies, Miss One in Sixty Seven Million,” Natasha said, joining Emily on the couch. She placed a sympathetic hand on the small of Emily’s back. “While I am blood-bound to fulfill your favor, I ask of you to not make this the favor you seek.” Emily lifted her head, glaring. Natasha merely smiled. “I will search for your answers, as far as my reach extends. But I fear, doing this as favor, will only sign my death sentence.”

“What do you mean?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You really should spend more time with your own kind. How many are so fortunate as to receive the Companion meant for them? I smell her on you, I smell your..” Natasha paused, turning her face forward to keep Emily from seeing the flicker of sincerity. “Happiness and even I’m jealous.”

“I don’t think the reason whoever’s doing this is because of my happiness.”

“No,” Natasha agreed, eyes narrowing in deep thought as she pursed her lips. “They’re not.”

Emily turned towards Natasha. “Natasha,” she said, low and warning.

Natasha brought her hand up, finger tapping against her lips. “Did you know your mother is in Vegas, with my uncle?”

“No. I didn’t.”

She brought her eyes back to Emily’s, lips spreading into a mischievous grin. “Do you think they’re fucking?”

“Knock it off,” Emily growled hollowly.

“Oh come now, Emily,” Natasha patted her knee. “Your mother is a *very* attractive woman. More than that, she’s very powerful. More powerful than I realized. Whatever‘s going, she knows your secret. I suspect my uncle does as well.”

“I have no secrets.” The words rang hollow even as Emily said them. But, she could feel the weight, the weight of something big pressing down on her shoulders. It was that weight that put JJ in danger, put Emily in danger. Natasha would never be a friend but Emily had inadvertently found herself an ally. With so few in her corner, Emily would have to take that leap, she’d have to *trust* Natasha. Trusting Natasha also meant giving the blonde vampire some of Emily’s power. Knowledge. “There’s something else,” Emily said, almost under her breath. “My mother, she.. she wiped a part of JJ’s memory. A conversation between the two.”

“Interesting,” was all Natasha said.

“There’s more, and when I that what I‘m about to tell you is confidential,” Emily paused, making sure she had Natasha’s utmost attention. “I mean only a handful know what I’m about to tell you and people in very high places are doing everything in their power to make sure those that know don’t share it with anyone else. Understood?” Emily waited, watching as Natasha’s eyes dilated, as she licked her lips in anticipation then subtlety nodded her head. “The other world, *our* world, it still exists. I’ve been there.”

Emily waited. She waited and watched, as Natasha’s eyes went hooded, mouth going slack, body shuddering as if she were having an orgasm. Knowing Natasha, she probably was. Emily had just given Natasha power. Incredible power. “It’s all there?” she said, licking her lips. “All of it?”

Emily nodded. “There was a church. JJ spent a considerable amount of time in the library, a memory my Mother also erased. Except, I can’t find any information on a vampire church in that specific location. Can you?”

“I will,” Natasha grinned. “On one condition..”

“Natasha..” Emily growled. She’d been in this position before, knew the types of strings Natasha liked to attach.

“Kiss me,” Natasha answered quickly, before the tables turned again. “Kiss me like you would your precious Companion. Is that so horrible a request?”

Emily narrowed her eyes, examining Natasha’s face closely. With a hand, she reached out, fingers wrapping Natasha’s throat, thumb grazing over the Adam’s apple. As Natasha’s eyes fluttered, mouth going slack at the hinted intent. “What are you up to, Natasha?”

The lascivious smile on Natasha’s lips broadened. “You know, a little of this, a little of that. She placed her hand high on Emily’s thigh. “I like you, Emily Prentiss. I like the way you smell. I really like the way you taste. And I *love* the way you fuck.” She slid her hand upwards, fingers barely pressing against the crease of Emily’s slacks. Emily barely able to suppress the sudden rising heat caused by the touch. “She can be many things to you, Emily Prentiss. But she will always be human. She will always be.. limited. Should you have the urge to let go, to fuck like a vampire,” she drawled, smiling. “And we both know you will, I want to be the one you let go with.”

“Friends with benefits,” Emily snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“You have to admit the appeal.” Natasha pressed her fingers a little harder, pressing hard against Emily’s clit. “You, me, naked, breathless and bloodied.”

In turn, Emily pressed the thumb against Natasha’s throat a little harder. “I have everything I want.. or need. Whatever you want from me, you’re going to have to do better than that.” With that, Emily pushed Natasha away, quickly rising to her feet. “I’m not your ally, Natasha. You’re mine. You’ll do as *I* say, because I said it. Anything more is because I give it, not because you wish to take it.”

Emily walked away, heading towards the door. Behind her, she could hear Natasha chuckling. At the sound, Emily stopped, barely turning her head.

“Well played, Emily Prentiss,” Natasha chuckled. “You are definitely more than just your mother’s daughter.”

**

ONE MONTH LATER

The last gasp of summer, it was late September and day six of triple digit temperatures. The sun had set hours ago and the city still baked. On the roof of the BAU, JJ sat on the ledge, legs dangling over the edge, casually sipping from the ice-cold beer she’d swiped from Morgan.

For the team, it’d been a rare win. One of those cases where the unsub was caught and the victims walked away relatively unscathed. Cases like these were few and far between, so they took the wins when they came. Which was why JJ was on her third beer but not exactly the reason she was drinking alone.

She smiled as she heard the door to the roof opening, Emily making sure to make as much noise as possible. When it came to moving about, Emily’s default mode seemed to be permanently stuck in ‘stealth’ and she’d unintentionally scared the crap out of JJ on more than one occasion.

Emily not so quietly approached, making her heels clack as loudly as she possibly could. The last thing she wanted was to scare JJ while she sat on the ledge of a 10-story building. “Hey,” she called out, announcing her presence. “They missed you downstairs.”

“I know,” JJ said, taking another sip of her beer.

Emily stepped until she was behind JJ, sliding her arms around JJ’s stomach, making sure to slip her hands between the end of JJ’s shirt and the top of her pants, to feel JJ’s skin. “So that gives you a reason to steal my favorite spot?”

JJ leaned back, tilting her head to expose her neck for the kiss she knew was coming. “I like it here,” she sighed at the feel of Emily’s lips on her flesh. “It’s nice.” Emily mumbled her retort into JJ’s neck. With her free hand, JJ lifted her hand, threading her fingers into Emily’s hair, softly scratching the scalp. “You don’t have to do that, you know? Be quiet for me.”

Emily pulled back, lips smacking wetly as she released her hold. “Why not?”

“I can feel when you’re near.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t know.” JJ shrugged. “A couple weeks.”

“That’s..” Emily frowned. “Never happened before.”

“Really?” JJ leaned to the side, craning her neck back to look at Emily’s face, Emily’s expression telling JJ everything she needed to know. “Well,” she grinned, turning forward again. “I like it. Keeps a certain vampire from constantly sneaking up on me.”

“I don’t sneak up on you.” Emily smiled, leaning into JJ, tip of her nose gently pressed to the back of JJ’s head.

“Yeah, you do. And, stop that.”

“Stop what?” Emily mumbled into the back of JJ’s head.

“Stop smelling me.”

“It‘s not my fault.” Emily teased, nuzzling her nose to the back of JJ‘s ear, inhaling deeply. The past month hadn’t been perfect, just close enough. There was no more Will. With everyday, his scent faded on JJ, as Emily’s grew stronger until it was nothing but a mix of the two, Emily and JJ. “You keep wearing my clothes and I like the way you smell in them. Especially, when you’re all hot and sweaty.”

The hands beneath JJ’s shirt drifted a little higher, JJ stiffening as felt Emily’s fingers worming their way under her bra. “Emily,” JJ playfully groaned. “We’re at work.”

“JJ, we’re on the roof.” Gently, stealthily, Emily drifted one of her hands down, fingers resting at the top of JJ’s slacks. “You’ve had a few, I’ve had a few, and..” She popped the button, the zipper easily sliding down as she slipped her fingers between cotton and skin. “Haven’t you always wanted to have a quickie at work?”

“Em..” JJ sighed, eyes fluttering closed. She leaned back into Emily, as Emily’s fingers slid deeper, over flesh gone instantly feverish.

Off JJ‘s sudden moan, Emily pulled an earlobe between her lips, suckling gently. “I love how wet you get.”

“Oh yeah,” JJ chuckled throatily. She reached back up, threading her fingers into Emily‘s hair, raking her nails because every time she did, Emily made that little growl that never failed to send a shiver down JJ‘s spine. “I love how wet you make me.”

“Oh yeah,” Emily purred, JJ shifting her hips to give Emily just enough room to slide two fingers into her pussy. And JJ made that sound, that little whimper, that made Emily’s brows crinkle, her mouth to go slack, like she needed to vent the sudden heat building within her. Emily inhaled deeply, smelling that old but new scent, the mixture of both their arousals. She pressed her lips to the shell of JJ’s ear. “I love you,” she whispered.

Then suddenly froze.

Emily had never said the words before. Oh, she’d felt them, meant them with everything she had, but she never dared say them before. Things were good between them, damn near perfect. But, no matter how perfect things almost were, all Emily saw were the million obstacles still between them. The ones that could tear them apart in a heartbeat. The thing like saying ‘I love you’ before the other was ready to hear it.

“Em..” JJ whispered softly, reaching down to wrap her fingers around Emily’s wrist, to keep Emily from pulling away. She turned towards Emily‘s face, eyes slowly opening. “Say it again.”

It was the opposite of breaking, that thing Emily felt in her heart. The one that made her want to scream with joy and burst into tears all at once, as she cleared those million obstacles in one tiny leap. “I..” she stammered, the words had been so easy to say before, had fallen effortlessly from her lips. Now, her throat seized, tongue turning to tar. But, she still managed to say it. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” JJ whispered, breathless. Surprised at how easily, how effortlessly the words fell from her lips. She’d never said those words before, to anyone besides her parents and, even then, she was nothing more than a child. Now, JJ was an adult, knew the meaning behind those words. As much as she’d denied it, there’d been an attraction to Emily from the beginning. An attraction that, no matter how JJ had fought, had turned to something more. She was in love with a vampire. “I love you, Emily Prentiss,” JJ whispered again. Fingers threading tighter in Emily’s hair, JJ tilted her head, exposing her neck, pulling Emily towards her. She wondered if it was then that she’d crossed that line, from revulsion to like to love, when she began craving this most intimate of acts. When she wanted to share blood with Emily.

Eyes misting to pure black, Emily purred, first, at the feel of JJ’s nails scraping across her scalp, then as JJ pulled Emily’s lips towards her neck. It had been in that first taste, when JJ’s entire being dripped with revulsion at the idea of being bitten by a vampire, that Emily knew but not knew JJ was the one for her. Emily fought it with everything inside her, wanting someone who hated her. But, fell she did, clawing and scratching the entire way down. Until there was nothing but the inevitable - rejection, heartbreak. Instead, there was that damned thing called hope, the tiny little voice, Emily’s human voice, screaming within her. _Don’t give up. Don’t let her go._

For so long, Emily had wanted to give in, to let the vampire within take control. To give in to the darkness. To lose control. Had she lost JJ, when she felt the connection between them sever, she would have. Instead, she listened to that little human voice. She listened to hope. This was her reward. The love JJ felt for her. With that love came compromise, the warring sides within her finding common ground.

Finding something that felt a lot like peace, even better, happiness.

“Emily,” JJ whimpered softly, nails digging in even harder. “Please.”

Fangs extending, Emily quickly sank her teeth into JJ’s neck, JJ keening, already convulsing as Emily pushed the fingers between JJ’s legs deeper. Eyes rolling into the back of her head, Emily felt JJ’s paroxysm as deeply as if it were her own.

For once, Emily felt sorry for her own kind. In vampire culture, it was the vamp who was the Master, the Companion the slave. There was no compromise. There was no love. Because of that, that lack of compromise, they would never feel this.

And, for this, this peace, this happiness, Emily knew she would give the woman in her arms anything, everything.

END


End file.
